Romance: Paid in Full
by Avarici
Summary: Chuckie Finster had long ago realized that his high school experience was going to be less than ideal, but when Angelica is thrown into the mix things only get worse. Trying to avoid her stalker she bribes Chuckie to be her "boyfriend" for two weeks, but the pair quickly learn that their feelings aren't so imaginary.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is my first ever Rugrats/AGU story, and I apologize to my followers who thought this was going to be HTTYD or Teen Titans. I still love you guys, but this one has been in the works for a looooong time. Enjoy! P.S. You get two chapters today because the first one is sort of short and boring, but trust me when I say it gets better!**

* * *

I don't care if Monday's blue

* * *

Chuckie Finster had come to the conclusion that high school was going to suck. He had long ago accepted the fact that he was a complete loser and had known for years that without Tommy he had no semblance of popularity what so ever. But his biggest issue with high school was the simple fact that all of his friends were a year younger than him.

Tommy, Phil, Lil, and Kimi talked non-stop about all the things they were doing in Junior High, always managing to leave him feeling alone and empty in the process. He'd known that eventually it was going to happen, but that didn't make it any easier. Last year he'd actually considered failing all his classes so he would get held back a year, but the nerd in him couldn't stand the thought of Kimi's B+ in English being the best grade on the fridge.

His newest plan was to do packets and hopefully graduate early. The sooner he was done with that brick and linoleum prison the better. But between his increased homework load, and working at the Java Lava, he really didn't have much time to hang out with his friends anymore.

Knowing that he'd be pretty much on his own, he did his best to survive. So far he'd managed to make it through three fourths of the school year, but only barely. For some reason the entire student body seemed to think of him as a door mat.

Originally he had hoped that a new school would be a good place to re-invent himself, a fresh start. After all, the braces were gone, the allergies were under control, and Kimi had talked him into a pair of glasses that actually looked good on him. His hair was still impossibly unruly, even though he kept it short in an attempt to exert some control over it. Lil had informed him that with a little hair gel it would be _stylishly_ unruly.

But, he was still too much of a klutzy dork to pull it off. In the end, he'd discovered it was a lot less work to just be himself. Even if that meant letting everyone walk all over him. Well, almost everyone. Susie was as nice as ever, but he rarely saw her due to her full schedule and extracurricular activities. When he did see her, however rare it was, at least she always slowed down long enough to say hi.

Angelica sightings were even rarer. She ignored him for the most part, which was a welcome respite from the constant bullying he'd endured from her as a kid. The most he ever got was a disinterested glance in his direction if they happened to be walking down the same hallway. Unfortunately, those disinterested glances had been having confusing effects on his stomach and heart-rate lately.

He sighed at the blender in front of him as his four friends discussed their latest project. They always spent their afternoons in the Java Lava when Chuckie was working. At first it had been to keep him company, but now they came every day, more of a habit than anything else. They had started spending less time together as soon as school started up, and a nagging voice in the back of his mind kept telling him there was no way he could make up for all that lost time.

"I said give it a rest McNulty!" His eyes darted to the door that Angelica had just stormed through. She stomped over to the table where the gang was sitting and flopped into a chair.

"Problem Angelica?" Tommy asked rolling his eyes.

"More like a menace to society!" She slammed her palm down on the table and looked directly at Lil. "It does not matter how many times I tell him I hate him," she turned to Kimi, "or that I wouldn't date him if he was the last, and I mean _last_ man on Earth," she turned back to Lil, "he will _not_ leave me alone! What part of 'NO' is so hard to understand!?"

"The nnn part." Phil answered. He was rewarded by a glare from Angelica, and quickly got up to sit at the bar by Chuckie.

"I know what you mean Angelica." Kimi said with a sigh. Lil nodded, rested her elbows on the table, and leaned forward. "Guys are so dense sometimes. Like this one kid the other day–"

"Ladies." Tommy interrupted bravely, considering the topic at hand. "As much as I'd _love_ to hear about your boy troubles, we really need to go get the stuff for our project."

"Just go without us Tommy." Kimi said as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.

"Yeah," Lil added, "You and Phil go buy the stuff, and we'll meet at your house after dinner."

"Unless you want to stay here and listen to us talk about boys." Kimi said with a smirk. The two boys exchanged glances then hurried out the door.

"Bye . . ." Chuckie called after them. He sighed and decided now was as good of a time as any to restock the restrooms. "Let me know if we get a customer, you know, one of those people that comes in and _buys_ something." Both Kimi and Lil made shooing motions with their hands.

By the time both bathrooms had been cleaned and restocked his shift was over. He walked out to find Betty seated at the table with the three girls, nodding knowingly at something Angelica was saying. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Um . . ."

"Oh, hey Chuckie. I'm good to take over. Thanks for your help." He nodded, hung up his apron, and began walking home. He was really getting sick of being the invisible friend. _Just one more term._ He told himself. _Then we'll have all summer to hang out and when school starts up again everything will be back to normal. I hope._


	2. Chapter 2

Tuesday's gray

* * *

Chuckie sighed as he shoved all his books into his locker. He was exhausted. Mondays were always terrible because everyone always seemed relaxed and refreshed after their weekend, but Chuckie's weekends, no matter how much he tried to reschedule otherwise, were always full of work and homework. After working the entire weekend and a Monday shift at the Java Lava he already felt like he needed a Friday. And it was only Tuesday. He gently closed the locker door and was making his way toward the lunchroom when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"For the millionth time McNulty, I've got a boyfriend! Quit asking!" He heard Angelica shriek.

"If you've got a boyfriend then why don't I ever see him?"

"He . . . he's busy." Out of curiosity Chuckie turned around to watch the conversation. He didn't notice that in the lunch rush he was one of only a handful of people left standing in the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm sure he and Santa Claus have a lot of work to do." Chuckie watched her eyes scan the hallway and was suddenly frozen in place when they settled on him. The look she was giving him was one he had seen many times in his life. That look did not bode well for him.

"I told you he's waiting for me so back off." She shoved Timmy McNulty so hard he stumbled and fell to the floor. Angelica took the opportunity to run straight at Chuckie and grab him by the wrist, pulling him with her as she went.

"I assume you know what's going on since you were eavesdropping!" She spat.

"Um . . ." There was no safe answer to that question and he knew it.

"Well, congratulations. You are now my new pretend boyfriend." She glanced nervously behind her. "If you pull this off, I'll give you whatever you want." Angelica stopped, pushed him against the wall, and held his hands in hers.

_Holy crap! She's holding my hands!_ He thought, doing his best to pretend the sudden churning in his stomach was caused by hunger.

"If you _don't_ pull this off," she pulled him closer and whispered in his ear, "I will beat you until you are a bloody puddle on the sidewalk that even your own mother won't recognize."

Before he could decide whether to blush at her breath against his ear, or be terrified by her threat, she stepped back and dropped one of his hands while gently swinging the other. She brought her free hand to her mouth and giggled.

"You're such a tease Chuckie!" She cooed while running her finger down his chest. His entire face lit up as he struggled to remember how to breathe. The fact that his heart was trying to pound out of his chest wasn't helping matters.

Angelica quickly looked over his shoulder then grabbed him by the shirt.

"Kiss me," She whispered through clenched teeth. His brain suddenly turned back on.

"What?" He whispered back.

"Kiss me and act like you're enjoying it!" She pulled the hand she was still holding behind her back and gently rested the other on the back of his neck. His eyes went wide as she leaned forward.

"Maybe this isn't such a—" his statement was cut short by a pair of lips pressing against his. He stood frozen, his brain desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. Angelica firmly placing his hand on her hip brought him back to reality.

_She's kissing me._ He felt her arm wrap around his back and pull him closer. _This is definitely _not_ how I imagined my first kiss._

Angelica stopped kissing him and pressed her forehead against his. "Work with me here Finster!" She whispered while gently moving her hand to his cheek and kissing his bottom lip causing shivers to run up and down his spine.

_Kiss her back! _Some deranged part of his brain shouted at him. _This is probably your first and last chance at a make-out session. Take it! _After quickly weighing the pros and cons he decided his brain was right. He carefully wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, closed his eyes, and let his instincts take over.

"Seriously Angelica this is – oh!" Chuckie found himself incredibly annoyed at Timmy McNulty as Angelica untangled herself from him, though he wasn't quite sure why.

Angelica quickly spun Chuckie around. "McNulty, boyfriend. Boyfriend, McNulty." Chuckie only blinked in response. It was probably a good thing, he had a feeling if he tried to talk he would end up saying something stupid.

"Wow. I guess . . . wait . . . Finster?" Timmy threw his hands up in the air. "Your boyfriend is Chuckie Finster!?"

"Y—yes! You got a problem with that?" She asked stepping out from behind him.

"You would rather date _him_," he pointed at Chuckie, "than _me_?"

"You got it."

"Wow . . . I . . . wow." He shook his head and walked off.

Angelica sighed heavily once he was out of sight. Chuckie slowly turned back around.

"Um . . . Angelica—"

"Before you get all worked up over nothing, let me remind you, that whole thing was nothing."

"You _kissed_ me," He told her, feeling slightly hurt for some strange reason.

"Oh, please Finster, it was just a kiss. I kiss boys all the time, and it's not like you've never—" Something about his facial expression must have given him away. "Oh. Um . . . right." She cleared her throat.

"I've gotta go Angelica." He turned back around and began walking toward the lunchroom. _Just a kiss. _He felt more angry than he had in a long time. Chuckie shook his head. _This is Angelica! Angelica Pickles. The girl who has tormented me since . . . forever. _He reminded himself. _So she found a new way to make me feel like crap. Big deal. __It's not like I—_

"Oh, no you don't Finster!" She grabbed him by the wrist. "I'm not done with you." His eyes widened, and he blushed wondering what else she was going to _do_ with him. She spun him around and folded her arms across her chest.

"Angelica," He sighed.

"Don't want to hear it. We've got to come up with a good reason why we haven't been seen together yet."

He threw his arms up in frustration. "The same reason nobody _ever_ sees me. I've got a job and twice as much homework as everyone else."

"That's good. That works for me." She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers with his, causing his heart to beat erratically. With a slight tug she started walking toward the cafeteria, and for some reason, that defied all logic, Chuckie followed. "I figure we'll 'go out' for a couple weeks, then have a huge blow out fight and break up. Sound good?"

Chuckie stopped, forcing Angelica to do the same. "Look, I'm sorry about this whole Timmy thing, but I really can't do this."

"Why? You already have a girlfriend?"

"No," He answered quietly while staring at his feet.

"All I'm asking is two weeks of your time Chuckie." He looked up, slightly surprised by her use of his actual name. Her big blue eyes were staring sadly at him, and he suddenly found himself losing his resolve. "Just at school?" She offered while biting her lower lip. "We don't have any classes together, so really, just lunch."

He sighed heavily in defeat. _Damn those big blue eyes of hers._ "Alright."

"Good," She said in a very businesslike way. "Let's go."

* * *

"Ladies," Angelica announced to the girls who were all seated at their usual table, "I have found the solution to my problem." Three pairs of eyes looked skeptically up at her as she plopped Chuckie down into the chair she usually sat in.

"No," Savannah said coldly while Tiffany tossed her long bottle blonde hair behind her ear.

"Too late," Angelica responded flippantly.

"You _didn't_!" Tiffany shouted in horror.

"I did."

"He's _kinda_ cute." Denise squinted and her dark tight braids fell across her face as she tilted her head to the side.

"Denise," Tiffany shouted, "what are you smoking!?"

Savannah sighed heavily and shook her head. "Does it have a name?" Angelica placed her hands on Chuckie's shoulders.

"Ladies, this is Chuckie Finster, my boyfriend who has been very busy helping run his parents company, and . . . something about having a lot of homework." She waved her hand dismissively.

"I'm doing extra–" Angelica cut Chuckie off by putting her hand on his mouth.

"Don't speak unless spoken to." She removed her hand and sat beside him.

"Do you enjoy making my life Hell?" Savannah asked staring at Chuckie in disgust.

"Oh come on he's not _that_ bad."

"His name," Savannah said.

"His clothes," Denise said through a mouth full of salad.

"His _hair_." Tiffany cringed.

"The glasses," Denise added.

"The freckles," Savannah sneered.

"The _hair!_" Tiffany shouted.

Angelica folded her arms across her chest and glared at her friends. "Fine then. Let's start from the top. What's wrong with his hair?"

"It's a mess! His head looks like it's on _fire_!" Tiffany shrieked.

"It's _untidy_." Angelica corrected. "Which is very 'in' right now, he's just doing it wrong." Chuckie frowned at her, but she continued. "I can help him do his hair, and just because you don't like redheads doesn't mean I can't go for one."

"It's true," Denise said pointing her fork at Tiffany. "And it wouldn't be the first time she's dated a redhead either." Angelica quickly moved on the next item.

"I can't do anything about the freckles, it's a redhead thing." Savannah shook her head in disapproval. Angelica ran her hand down the side of Chuckie's face. "He's got great skin. Better freckles than acne right?"

The three girls cringed, exchanged glances then slowly nodded.

"Next," She said feeling more victorious by the moment.

"Glasses?" Denise asked.

"He's smart, but if it really bugs you that bad we can get contacts."

"I'm allergic to contacts," Chuckie said quickly. Angelica glared, hoping to remind him of the no talking rule. He quickly pinched his lips together.

"Can he see without them?" Tiffany asked.

"I don't think so." Angelica honestly couldn't remember, "One way to find out." She reached over and pulled Chuckie's glasses off his face. She allowed herself the tiniest smile at the fact without his glasses he was almost cute. She leaned back and tilted her head.

"Oh, that's much better," Savannah said with an approving nod.

"Angelica?" The boy beside her asked uncertainly as he squinted in her direction.

"You want these back?" She asked holding his glasses in her right hand, and dangling them in front of her face. Out of curiosity she put them on.

"Damn!" She shouted while trying to focus. "He is absolutely blind! How allergic?" She quickly pulled them off.

"To contacts?" He asked while swiping blindly at her. "My eyes turn red, and swell shut." All four girls cringed.

"The glasses stay. I'll make it work. Next." She slipped them back on his face and smirked at his slight blush.

"Clothes," Denise sighed.

"They're awful, I know, but nothing a day at the mall can't fix. Next."

"Chuckie?" He looked up at Savannah assuming he was being spoken to. "What the hell kind of name is that?"

"His real name is Charles." He raised an eyebrow at her as if surprised by the fact that she knew his real name. _What's so surprising about that?_ She wondered as she shrugged back at him. _I've known you for thirteen years._

"I'm not sure how, but I think that's worse," Tiffany said dejectedly.

"We could call him Chaz." Angelica supplied as she watched Chuckie cringe from the corner of her eye.

"Ew, no!" Tiffany spat.

"Charlie." Denise said rolling her eyes.

"Chuck is just as bad as Chuckie," Savannah said, the boredom in her voice becoming more evident by the minute.

"Charles isn't _so_ bad. There's a _prince_ Charles." Angelica offered.

"Yeah, and he's probably a nerd too," Denise mumbled while stabbing at her salad. "Really Angelica, what the hell were you thinking!?"

"Chaz . . ." Tiffany said playing with the name. "We can call him Chad."

"Chad." Savannah nodded. "I can live with Chad."

"Chad it is then. Anything else?" Angelica asked. She refused to look at Chuckie who was probably feeling like a steak at the supermarket right now. _Necessary precautions Chuckie. I've got an image to uphold. _Her three friends glanced at each other then collectively shook their heads.

"Alright then. Things you should know." She glanced over at Chuckie who was staring down at his hands that were clasped together on his lap. "Before you hear it from anyone else, yes we were playing tonsil hokey in the hall."

Her three friends gasped simultaneously.

"Oh, cut me some slack! McNulty was breathing down my neck. I was desperate."

"Obviously," Savannah said eyeing Chuckie in disgust.

"There were, like, five people in the hall, and one of them just happened to be my semi-attractive neighbor that I've known forever. It really was my best option."

The three girls all shook their heads sadly.

"I don't suppose there's something you could do about his outfit NOW," Tiffany said with disdain. "I mean, everyone is gonna know by the time school is out, thanks to McNulty's big mouth. Do you really want people knowing you made-out with that?"

Angelica glanced over at Chuckie's sky blue long sleeved sweater, but quickly noticed the collar sticking out the top. She reached over and pulled up the sweater.

"Angelica!" He cried struggling to pull it back down.

"Take it off." Chuckie shot her a nasty glare, but when she returned the look he swallowed hard and did as she instructed. She nodded at the navy blue button down shirt he was wearing underneath. She snatched the sweater from him and tied it around his neck.

"Too prep school?" She asked.

"Not if we're working the smart guy angle," Denise commented.

"_Are_ we working the smart guy angle?" Savannah asked.

"Can someone be smart _and_ popular?" Tiffany asked. Angelica could practically smell the rubber burning as she watched Tiffany try to figure that out.

"He's already smart." She suddenly remembered the last time she had attempted to help Chuckie be cool. Without warning she yanked the sweater from his shoulders. "I think he'll be fine without it. Now do me a favor and go get us some food."

"Huh?" He asked quickly looking up from his lap.

"It's lunchtime _Chad_. I'm hungry. Grab me a salad and a water, and get yourself something decent. Not that crap the lunch ladies try to pass off as food." She thought she heard him mutter something about her telling him what to eat under his breath. "What was that?" She asked coldly.

"Nothing! Is there anything else you need Angelica?"

"Just you," She said with a wink as she blew him a kiss. He stood frozen on the spot staring wide eyed at her. Angelica dropped the act. "Seriously. I'm hungry. Go already." He blinked a few times then walked off. She turned back around with a sigh.

"Suddenly McNulty doesn't seem so bad," Savannah mused blandly. "At least he knows how to dress himself."

"At least _Chad_ has something other than getting his hands on my ass occupying his thoughts. He's really not that bad." Her friends looked at her skeptically. "I'll take him shopping _today_ okay?"

"If anyone can pull this off Ang, it's you," Denise said returning her attention to her salad.

* * *

At lunch Chuckie had been silent as Angelica's friends pointed out his every flaw. Now, being dragged through the mall, he did not hesitate to voice his concerns.

"I'm not paying forty dollars for a pair of jeans that already have holes in them."

"But that's the style," Angelic whined. He shook his head. "Fine," she set down one of the bags she was carrying and placed a hand on her hip, "_I'll_ buy them. Now go try them on so we can see if they fit."

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. I'm not going to _wear_ a pair of pants that already have holes in them." He pointed to a particularly annoying hole just above the back pocket. "Especially when they expose my underwear!"

"That's the _style_! And it's not like you still wear tightie whities right?" She asked with a giggle. Again something in his facial expression must have given him away because her laughter abruptly stopped. She rolled her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "You have got to be _kidding_ me! I've got to buy you underwear too? I suddenly have the feeling this is going to be the longest two weeks of my life!"

"Funny, I was getting that same feeling."

"Just go try them on," She said shoving him into the dressing room.

"I'm not trying these on Angelica!" He called once she had shut him in. He folded his arms across his chest. He'd stand there all day if he had to. That was one thing his dad told him he'd inherited from his mother. He was damn stubborn when he needed to be. After a few minutes another pair of pants flew over the top of the door and hit him directly in the face.

"There!" Angelica shouted from the other side of the door. "No holes, now hurry up."

With a small smirk he quickly slipped out of his jeans and into the pair she had given him. As he examined himself in the mirror he noticed that his pants were a bit tighter than any he would have bought, but they actually looked pretty good.

As he stepped out of the dressing room Angelica motioned for him to spin around. He rolled his eyes, but did it anyway.

"Not bad Finster." When his back was turned she lifted the bottom of his shirt.

"Angelica!" He shouted while trying to reach behind him and pull it back down. She swatted his hands away.

"Damn boy. For a nerd you have a really nice ass!" Chuckie wasn't sure how to respond to that so he didn't, but he was glad he had his back turned to her and couldn't see his intense blush.

"These look good on you," She said finally releasing his shirt. "I'm gonna grab a few more of these while you get dressed. I'll meet you at the register."

He nodded and returned to the dressing room. As he changed he wondered if the next two weeks were really going to be like this. Nothing but Angelica bossing him around like he was her slave. He frowned. _No wonder she can't keep a boyfriend for more than three weeks._ He was then curious as to why he knew that about her.

He finished tying his shoe and stepped out of the dressing room. Angelica was standing there with two more bags waiting for him.

"You're slow. Come on." She handed him three of the four bags and walked out of the store. "You've got enough clothes here for two weeks, you are to wear nothing that did not come out of these bags. Do you understand?"

"Yes Angelica."

"Good. You seem to know what colors go together, so I trust you to mix and match. The layered look is really big right now, but never more than two layers. Oh and you should always wear – never mind. I'll just come over to your house before school and pick out your outfits, how about that?"

"Um . . . aren't you worried about what Kimi and my parents will think?"

"Not really. Just tell them that I'm helping you make more informed style decisions."

"Okay . . . I guess."

"I think we're done shopping."

"Thank goodness."

They left the mall and loaded the bags into Angelica's car. He climbed in and fastened his seat belt. She started the car and turned down the radio that had nearly burst his eardrums on the way there. After carefully backing out she glanced at him then returned her attention to the road.

"I meant what I said Finster. Anything you want, name it, it's yours. _If_ you pull this off."

"Anything?"

"Well, anything under a couple thousand or so."

"A COUPLE THOUSAND _DOLLARS_!?"

"No. A couple thousand jelly beans. Yes, a couple thousand dollars." Chuckie leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. _She's serious! I don't even know what I'd buy with that much money! _Chuckie got paid for working at the Java Lava, but it wasn't much, and he was saving up for college. His mom had to actually steal and throw away his old clothes in order to convince him to buy new ones. _A laptop would be nice. _He thought suddenly._ That would definitely help with getting my homework done._

"Home sweet home," Angelica said suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts. She popped the trunk. "The three bags back there are yours." She said as he got out of the car. He grabbed the bags from her trunk, closed it, and began walking inside.

"Hey Finster!" She called, causing him to stop and slowly turn around.

"Yes Angelica?" He asked, worried what her next demand would be.

"I'll be at your house around seven." He nodded and she sped off.

Chuckie stepped inside and sighed. He walked upstairs and dropped the bags by his bed then flopped onto it. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling until a soft knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Who is it?" He called unenthusiastically.

"It's me." His mom said quietly from the other side of the door.

"Come in." She opened the door and poked her head through.

"Dinner's ready." He nodded. "What's wrong Chuckie?"

"Nothing," He lied. She walked over to his bed and sat beside him.

"Girl trouble?" She asked.

"What? No . . . well sort of."

"Mmm," She said as she flicked a strand of hair off of his forehead. "That bad?"

"Yeah. Well, no– I just . . ." he sighed heavily. "Mom," he asked sitting up, "have you ever had someone point out every single thing that's wrong with you? Everything that makes you who you are?"

"Yes, I have," She said taking his hand. "But, you cannot allow someone to change who you are. And you should not change who you are for someone else either. At the end of the day the only person you have to answer to is the person looking back at you in the mirror."

"But what if you don't like that person? What if that person is a complete loser with no life, no friends, and is destined to spend the rest of his days alone and miserable?"

"Chuckie."

"I know. I'm over reacting."

"If you feel like you need to change something about yourself, then you should. Just make sure it's for the right reasons." He nodded.

"Thanks Mom," He said giving her hand a small squeeze.

"Anytime." She stood up and pulled him with her. "Now come on. Your father and Kimi will be wondering what's taking us so long."

"Hey Mom, um . . . this talk–"

"I won't say a word."


	3. Chapter 3

Wednesday too

* * *

Chuckie woke up about once an hour all night long. He couldn't stop stressing out about his first day as Angelica's boyfriend. The title itself had been the cause of three panic attacks during the night. At six-thirty he finally got up and showered. He didn't bother doing his hair since he had the feeling Angelica would just get mad at him for doing it wrong.

After looking through the bags of newly purchased clothing, he decided it would be safer to just keep his pajamas on until Angelica told him what to wear. He walked down stairs to the kitchen where Kira was busy making what promised to be a delicious breakfast. He walked over to the toaster and dropped a single slice of bread in.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." Chuckie frowned at the slight hurt in his mom's voice.

"My stomach is killing me Mom." He said as he grabbed a knife and the butter. "I'm not even sure I'll be able to keep this down." He finished in a whisper. She turned around and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, Chuckie. You aren't getting sick are you?" She put one hand on his cheek and the other on his forehead. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I'm not sure I did." He shook his head. "I'm fine Mom, just nervous."

"About what?" She asked.

"Nothing important," he lied, not sure how he would explain his deal with Angelica, or if he even _wanted_ to. He was grateful that his toast chose that exact moment to pop out of the toaster. He hurried over, buttered, and ate with extreme trepidation.

"Um . . . just so you know," he said as he checked the clock, "I—I've got a friend coming over this morning to help me with a project."

"Oh?" She asked.

"Yeah, um . . . I'm um . . . helping her with a . . . a social studies project on—" The doorbell rang, interrupting his horrible attempt at lying. His stomach clenched even tighter. "I'll get it!" He shouted running to the door. His stomach twisted again, and his heart began its frantic pounding at the sight of Angelica standing on his porch. She looked amazing. He couldn't decide if it was the blue shirt she was wearing or something she did with her make up, but her eyes looked like a pair of perfect sapphires.

"Finster." She nodded as she stepped in. "Let's get to work." She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him up the stairs. He risked a quick glance toward the kitchen on his way up. His mother was sitting at the table with her tea smiling as they went by. He was immensely grateful that his dad was opening the store today, and Kimi wasn't up yet.

"Alright." She said pulling him into his room and closing the door behind him. She looked him up and down for a moment then walked over to the bags. She tossed a few things on his bed, pulling tags off as she went, then handed him a dark green t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"This'll do for today. Got any extra hangers?"

He pointed at his closet. "In there."

"I'll hang these up while you get changed." He walked to the bathroom feeling slightly embarrassed about getting kicked out of his own room. When he returned Angelica had his closet door open; he noticed that all the new shirts were hanging up and the jeans were folded in a pile on the floor. All of his old clothes had been pushed to the back.

"One hanger per day. You and I will be going on a date this weekend, and next, so save these two." She motioned to the first two hangers. "They're my favorites." He raised an eyebrow at her as she checked her watch. "Hair," she said, suddenly tugging him back to the bathroom.

She sat him down on the toilet seat and began opening drawers.

"This yours?" She asked holding up his gel.

"Yeah."

She shook her head. "That's your first problem," she said as she began digging through her purse. "You should use a mousse or pomade. I think we'll try the pomade first, it'll give your hair a softer look."

"Whatever you say Angelica." He looked away with a blush when she stood in front of him. He hadn't noticed how low cut her shirt was until her neckline was at his eye level.

"So, you just put some of this on your hands and run it through your hair. It works best if your hair is wet." His eyes closed and rolled back into his head at the sensation of her fingernails across his scalp. He bit down on his lip while wondering why it felt _so_ damn good. Once she had worked the stuff through his hair she began pulling at clumps in an attempt to style it.

His face was still flushed and now his heart was pounding as well. Angelica stepped back and grabbed his hand, causing his eyes to snap open and his heart to skip a beat. _What in the world is wrong with me? This is Angelica!_ She pulled him to the mirror and released his hand. With wide eyes he examined himself. He looked good.

"I think we're done here Finster." She leaned forward to wash her hands, causing her top to fall forward. Chuckie quickly busied himself with putting the lid back on the stuff she'd used in his hair.

"Keep that here," she said. "Just rub it in and mess it up."

He nodded, focusing on the small tin until she turned around to dry her hands.

"I've just got to grab my shoes and we can go." He told her as he stepped past her.

"Make it snappy. I've got socializing to do, and the girls will want to see how you look." He cringed at the thought of the three harpies scrutinizing his every character trait _again_, and hurried down the stairs.

* * *

As Angelica dried her hands she smiled at how good Chuckie looked. The girls would definitely be impressed. Now all she had to do was get him to keep his mouth shut around them and he'd be the perfect boyfriend. She suddenly frowned.

_The only problem is what to do about McNulty when we 'break up'._ She shook the thought from her head as she grabbed her purse. _I'll figure that out in two weeks. _Chuckie's mom smiled and waved pleasantly as if Angelica running through her house at seven in the morning was a regular occurrence.

"Good morning Angelica. Was Chuckie able to help you with your project?" She asked while sipping her tea. Angelica glanced at Chuckie who gave her a panicked look. She rolled her eyes.

"He was loads of help. Sorry for disturbing your family so early in the morning."

"It's no problem Angelica. You know you're welcome here anytime."

"Thanks. C'mon," she said while digging through her purse for her keys, "I'll give you a ride to school. Bye Mrs. Finster! Thanks again!" She called merrily as she ushered Chuckie through the door. She dragged him to her car and got in.

"Alright _Chad_," she said as she started the car, "these are the ground rules. Don't talk to the girls unless they specifically ask you something. You will wait outside my fourth period class so we can walk to lunch together. Hands off the merchandise, i.e. me. I will initiate hand holding and any other physical contact if and when I deem it necessary. Other than that, just do whatever I tell you to do and we'll be fine."

He sighed heavily and slouched in his seat. Angelica frowned.

"Geez Finster, is being my boyfriend really _that _bad?"

"What?" He shouted turning his head toward her. "No! It's not that, it's . . . never mind."

"What?"

"I didn't sleep last night, and . . . I'm just afraid that I'll mess up, and . . ." He sighed again.

"Just keep thinking of whatever I'll be buying you when this is over." She focused on the road, successfully ignoring the awkward boy sitting beside her. She pulled into the parking lot, gracefully slid out of her car and held out her hand. He just stood frozen staring at it.

"We're holding hands." She told him slowly as if he were two. He swallowed hard and reluctantly cupped his hand around hers. She rolled her eyes and laced their fingers together. "This is how big boys and girls hold hands Chad." Angelica dragged Chuckie toward the school. With a quick, but casual toss of her hair she pulled him through the main doors.

She noticed the looks the other students were giving her, approving looks as far as she could tell. They arrived at Savannah's locker where her three friends were waiting.

"Hey girls." She released Chuckie's hand to give them all quick hugs. "So?" She asked. The three girls looked him up and down, Savannah went so far as to take a walk around him.

"He looks good," she said with a nod.

"You guys looked great coming down the hall together," Denise said with a slight smirk.

"Very convincing," Tiffany added.

"That's what I was going for." She shrugged. "So what's the newest gossip?"

"Jim Morgan's party this Friday," Savannah said blandly.

Tiffany squealed. "I'm so excited! It's going to be huge! Everyone is going to be there, and by the end of the night I'll be on Jim's arm." She giggled.

"You should bring Chad," Denise said with a tilt of her head. "A party is the perfect place to show him off." Angelica turned to look at Chuckie who was standing where she left him, staring down at his shoes. She sighed, walked over to him and tugged on his shirt sleeve.

"What do you say _Chad_? I think we should go." He blinked. "I'm talking to you Chad, you may speak."

"Oh. A party sounds cool."

"Good." She smiled, wrapped her arm around his, and pulled him back to where the girls were gathered. "We'll be there, and–" she was cut off by the five minute warning bell. The four girls sighed simultaneously.

"See you at lunch Angelica," Savannah said as they all went their separate ways. She turned to Chuckie.

"So, I'll see you outside my math class at lunch?" He nodded. "Don't keep me waiting _Chad_, I'm not a patient woman." She didn't miss the slight smirk on his face. With an eye roll she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

His eyes went wide and Angelica couldn't help but enjoy the effect her affections had on him. _It would be kinda cute if it wasn't so pathetic._ She thought as she turned and began walking toward her locker. After three steps she stopped and turned to look over her shoulder. He was still standing where she had left him, only now his hand was gently touching his cheek. He saw her looking and blushed.

"See you at lunch Sweetie!" She called over her shoulder.

* * *

Chuckie chewed on his pen while he waited for the bell to ring. If he hadn't been so stressed out about messing up Angelica's plan he would have enjoyed all the compliments he'd gotten on his new look. Instead he stared intently at the clock.

Fortunately his Tech Theater class didn't have an assigned textbook, so he'd ditched his books after second period so he wouldn't have to waste time putting them away before lunch. As soon as the bell rang he bolted from the classroom and walked as fast as he could to Angelica's class.

_Brand new laptop._ He told himself as he walked. _I can do anything for two weeks, especially for a new laptop._ When he arrived the doors were just opening and students began pouring out. He moved to the side and leaned against the wall.

Chuckie steadied his breathing and waited. After the first rush of students hurried passed Angelica walked out alone, both arms wrapped around her books and her head held high as if she owned the world. She offered him a small smile when she saw him. Again his stomach started twisting and his heart began to pound.

"I can take those," he said, gesturing toward her books. She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"Sure. Thanks Finster." She handed him her books and they began walking to her locker. He was about to ask her how class was, but quickly remembered her no talking rule. They walked in silence. She opened her locker, took the books from him, and tossed them in. He winced as she slammed the door shut and took his hand.

"Shall we?" He nodded. She gave his hand a slight squeeze, like she did whenever they were about to start walking somewhere, and led him toward the cafeteria. "Be a sweetheart and get me a salad," she said when they reached the table. He nodded and headed off for the salad line.

As he waited he had time to ponder several things. It was only his first day as "Angelica's Boyfriend", but he was starting to get a strange feeling of attachment.

_This is Angelica Pickles!_ He inwardly shouted. _She's using you so some guy will leave her alone. She was never even a friend and she never will be!_ The next thing he wondered about was the odd churning of his stomach every time she smiled at him or took his hand.

_I like her._ He violently shook his head, getting a few odd looks from the people standing in line around him. _No! I don't like her!_ He told himself. _I'm getting all nervous because she's a pretty girl. Every guy has feelings like that around pretty girls. It doesn't mean anything._ He chose to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that he never felt that way around Susie, Lil, or _any _other girl he knew.

His troubled mind was given a brief respite when he reached the front of the line. He grabbed two of the neatly boxed salads and set them on a tray. He didn't particularly like salad, and would much rather be eating the ravioli the lunch ladies were serving, but that was against the rules, and he was not willing to spend the rest of his lunch hour in another line.

He assumed that milk cartons were against the rules as well so he grabbed two small bottles of water instead. As he walked back to the table he frowned at the small box of salad on the tray. If he kept eating what Angelica ate he was going to starve before the two weeks were over.

She was in the middle of a conversation with her friends when he took the seat beside her. She didn't even bother acknowledging him, but instead kept talking. _Just keep your head down Chuckie,_ he told himself, _just two weeks and you'll have a shiny new laptop for your trouble._

He managed to finish his food and stay quiet until the bell rang. Without a word he gathered up his and Angelica's trash and threw it away. When he got back, she and her friends were exchanging hugs.

"See you tomorrow Ang." Savannah said as she walked off. Angelica grabbed Chuckie's hand and pulled him out of the lunch room, only to practically run into Timmy McNulty.

"Angelica." He said as he stepped aside.

"McNulty." She spat back, not bothering to stop. Chuckie kept his mouth shut. He had the feeling that McNulty could waste him in a fight, and he seemed like the kind of guy that liked to start fights. Angelica stopped just across the hall and turned to face Chuckie. He glanced across the hall from the corner of his eye and saw that Timmy McNulty was still watching them. His stomach started churning.

"I probably forgot to tell you that I have dance right after school today so I can't give you a ride home."

"That's okay, I'm used to walking home anyway."

"So I probably won't see you until tomorrow, but I can still give you a ride in the morning if you want." She casually tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Sure that would be great."

"McNulty's still watching isn't he?" She asked as she stepped closer.

"Yeah," Chuckie said quietly doing his best to keep from looking back over at him.

Angelica giggled and stepped even closer. "Put one hand on my hip and the other behind my head." He hesitated. "It's not going to kill you I promise." She leaned forward and put her hand on his cheek. He quickly put his hands where she had instructed as she pressed herself against him. She kissed him much longer than he had expected and when she finally pulled away his brain was screaming for air.

"See you tomorrow at seven-thirty. Be ready." She cooed as she pressed her finger against his nose. Chuckie's knees were wobbling slightly as he watched her turn and walk away. He glanced over and saw McNulty storm off, then leaned against the wall while he tried to catch his breath.

"This is going to be the longest two weeks of my life."

* * *

**You people—yes you reading this—are awesome. Thanks for the reviews and for enjoying this story. I hope I can keep you coming back for more.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Well Ladies and gents you've probably noticed that we're got from weekly updates to bi-weekly. Sorry, I am a full time college student and this semester is kicking my but. I am, however, commuted to this schedule and yo all of you. The bi-weekly schedule gives me one Friday to write and one Friday to proofread and upload. Yes I have ONE day a weeks to work on this, but it is a labor of love. Thanks for all the reviews and for reading. I love you all so much!**

* * *

Thursday I don't Care about You

* * *

Angelica wasn't the nervous type, but with the way Madame Dupont talked about their upcoming recital she was inches away from a panic attack. She spoke about their impending performance as if it would be the end of the world if anyone so much as missed a step. Madame was demanding absolute perfection from every one of the dancers in Angelica's class and the pressure was getting to her.

She'd woken up in a cold sweat at four and when her alarm clock had finally gone off she rolled out of bed and dragged herself to the shower. She tried to relax her tired and sore muscles under the scalding hot water, but it didn't seem to help. She made a mental note to take some muscle relaxants before she went to school.

She sighed and began massaging shampoo through her hair. School was beginning to feel more and more like a job. She had piles of overdue assignments, a creepy guy following her around, and a pretend boyfriend to maintain. It was a miracle she hadn't had a meltdown already.

When she was finished showering she put on her bathrobe and headed downstairs for some breakfast. Her stomach had been growling since she'd woken up. As soon as she left the bathroom the smell of coffee assaulted her nose and she breathed in the pleasant aroma. Her mom was sitting at the table with her laptop open, her cellphone in one hand, and her mug in the other. Angelica smiled and wondered how many times she had imagined her mother with an extra pair of hands.

Angelica giggled as she sat down. It didn't matter how many hands her mother had, they'd all be busy doing something and she'd need two more.

"You're sure this can't wait until I'm _in_ the office? Yes, fine I—" her mother stopped as she looked up from her laptop "yeah, hold on." Charlotte took a sip of her coffee, set it down, then covered the phone with her now free hand. "I keep forgetting to tell you, Madame Dupont called a while back. She's having another rehearsal tomorrow at three. I forget the name of the place, but you know where it is." She downed the rest of her coffee and closed her laptop.

"Another one?" Angelica whined. "Mom I'm beginning to think this woman is slightly mad."

"It _is _going to wait till I get to the office because I'm leaving right now." She shouted at whoever was on the other line. "I'm beginning to agree with you sweetheart, but she's the best there is. No, not you! Why would I call _you _sweetheart? I'll be there in ten minutes. I'm sure Mr. Patterson can wait that long."

"Wait, did you say tomorrow?"

"I'm sure it isn't that big of a deal, nobody is truly irate _this _early in the morning. Yes, I said tomorrow. No not you Jonathan!"

Angelica sighed angrily as she realized that her Friday was now going to involve school, a grueling ballet practice and a party that she was going to have to navigate Chuckie through. She rested her head on the table as her stomach started rumbling.

"What's wrong Angel?" Her dad asked as he walked into the kitchen to pour himself some coffee.

"Madame _Folle_ is having _another_ rehearsal." Madame Folle was the nickname Angelica reserved for her ballet instructor when she became truly crazy.

"Don't be nervous Angelica, you've been practicing plenty and I know you'll do just fine."

Angelica sat up and ran her hands down her face. "Fine isn't good enough dad. Vous devez être parfait!" She screeched in a perfect imitation of Madame Dupont's angry French.

"See you both at six!" Her mom shouted as she hurried out the door. Drew put his hand on Angelica's and smiled.

"Then I'm sure you'll be perfect."

"Thanks Dad." She said as she trudged back up the stairs. She stepped into her bathroom and began digging for her concealer. She could _feel_ the dark circles developing under her eyes and that just wouldn't do.

* * *

Angelica had been quiet all morning and had hardly said two words to him. He didn't mind, but it worried him a little, and he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. He had nervously drummed on his desk through his Theater Tech class until the guy next to him had angrily whispered at him to stop.

Lunch with Angelica and her friends still made him nervous. There were so many people to see if he somehow screwed up, and whatever it was would quickly be followed by Angelica's angry yelling and the unyielding scrutiny of the three harpies she called her friends.

When the bell rang he practically jumped out of his seat and hurried to Angelica's class. He stood just outside the door as everyone shuffled by. He looked around the crowded hallway thinking he had missed her when she stepped out of the room.

"Finster." She said quietly. He grabbed her books, she took his hand, and she slowly led him to her locker. Neither of them said a word until they got to the table.

"I'm not hungry." She told him as she flopped into her seat.

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay." He stood beside the table glancing at the several food options. If she didn't want a salad he wasn't getting one either. "Um," he leaned forward so her friends wouldn't overhear, "is pizza against the rules?" He asked. She shook her head and he hurried off to the pizza line.

It moved much faster than the salad line for some reason and when he got to the front he grabbed two pieces of supreme pizza and smiled. He looked at the cinnamon breadsticks just beside the pizza and suddenly remembered they were one of Angelica's favorites. He grabbed a second plate and a cup of icing and hurried back to the table.

He put both plates on the table then sat down beside Angelica. He didn't dare look up at the other girls as he slid the plate of cinnamon sticks over to Angelica. She smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

He kept his eyes on his plate as he devoured his pizza, which tasted a thousand times better than salad. He was happily munching his lunch completely ignoring the conversation around him until Angelica suddenly spoke up.

"I hate math!"

"Who doesn't?" Savannah rolled her eyes.

Chuckie ducked his head and concentrated very hard on his pizza to keep from announcing that he didn't hate math. He actually liked it, and was really good at it.

"I'm going to fail this class," she spat angrily. "Who even uses algebra in the real world anyway?"

He stuffed his mouth full of pizza to keep from pointing out that a lot of people used it every day. Chuckie shook his head. Spending two weeks with these girls was going to be worse than he thought.

"Hey you," One of them called. Chuckie looked up carefully hoping he wasn't being spoken to. Four sets of eyes were all focused on him. He blushed and swallowed.

"He's probably really good at math," Denise said.

"Well are you?" Savannah asked.

"Yeah," he said nervously.

"Since you're stuck with him for the next few weeks anyway you should have him help you with math," Savannah said to Angelica, "or have him do it for you like a good boyfriend."

Chuckie squeezed his eyes shut and held in the annoyed sigh that was just waiting to escape. _I draw the line right there!_ He told himself angrily. _Screw the stupid laptop. I'm not cheating for her._

"You're right Savannah," Angelica leaned forward and rested her hand on her chin. He snapped his head toward her to shoot her a glare that would tell her exactly how he felt about that plan. His glare was met with two big blue eyes and a soft smile that made his heart stutter.

Chuckie swallowed hard as she reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair off of his forehead. It bounced right back to where it had been, but the soft caress of her finger across his skin was enough to send shivers down his spine. He wasn't going to cheat for her, but finding the guts to tell her that was something else entirely.

* * *

She couldn't put her finger on it, but Angelica was unusually happy at the end of the day. It probably had something to do with sleeping through study hall. It was amazing how much a cat nap could change one's outlook on life. Suddenly a second dress rehearsal didn't seem so bad; after all she knew the dance forward and backward and in her sleep. This recital would be a piece of cake. When the bell rang she took her time gathering everything up. When she stepped out of the classroom she was almost smiling, until she and almost bumped into Chuckie.

"Finster!" She squeaked as she stepped back. "I mean, Hi _Chad_." She corrected quickly with a huge grin.

"Hey Angelica," he said quietly. She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. His eyes immediately found hers and it gave her a moment of pause. There was something about him today that was just different, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Get a room," someone said gruffly as they jostled her to the side as they hurried through the door.

"Watch it!" She shouted angrily over her shoulder. "Let's go." Angelica began pulling Chuckie toward the parking lot. She had to practically drag him. He was walking even slower than he had been that morning and kept getting pushed back by large crowds of students. The parking lot wasn't much better. They were both about run over at least three times as she hurried to get to her car.

When she finally found it she let go of Chuckie's hand and plopped into the driver's seat.

"What is your problem Finster?" She asked angrily, stopping only for a second to check her hair in the rear view mirror. "I thought we had a deal!"

"We do have a deal, but no one ever said anything about me having to do your homework." She froze, her pinkie finger poised to wipe away a stray bit of lip gloss from the corner of her mouth, and turned her full attention to the boy next to her.

"Is that what this is about?" She asked evenly.

"Yes. I'm not cheating for you," he said as he folded his arms across his chest.

She shook her head and began digging through her bag for her keys. "You're stupider than I thought."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked while she angrily shoved the keys into the ignition and with a quick flick of her wrist started the vehicle.

"Yeah, I'm having a hard time in math," she leaned forward and checked that there were no cars blocking her exit, "but I don't expect you to do it for me."

"But Savannah said —" Angelica slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand as she drove with the other, never once taking her eyes off the road.

"Savannah's a stupid bitch. Tell her I said that and I'll kill you." She glanced over and saw him rubbing his arm. "We'll only be going out for a few weeks. If you do my homework for me I'll be worse off when you're gone. I thought _you_ were supposed to be the smart one."

"Oh," he said quietly. She was too angry to look at him, let alone say anything the rest of the drive.

"I could help you sometime, if you still want, or even need me to."

The quiet tone and sincerity in his voice took her anger down a few notches. "I'd really appreciate that Finster."

"I don't work today," he offered more hopefully than Angelica had expected.

"I have a test . . . crap. I have a test tomorrow, so . . . so today would be good. My place or yours?"

"Um . . . I don't care."

"Your place then."

"Okay," he said as they pulled up in front of his house. Angelica turned off her car and reached around toward the back seat for her books. She tossed them around until she found her math book then turned back around to find Chuckie holding her door for her.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she followed him inside.

"The kitchen would probably be best," he told her as he led her to the table. She dropped her book and sat down.

"Do you want anything to eat or . . . drink?" He asked as he stood beside her.

"I'm fine," she said as she began flipping through her book. Chuckie grabbed a glass of tap water and sat down beside her just as she found the material she needed to study for her test. "Start with this crap," she said as she poked at the confusing clusters of numbers and symbols, "It's completely beyond me."

* * *

When he had offered his place up for studying he hadn't realized what it would feel like to be sitting alone at his kitchen table with Angelica. Several overdue assignments were sprawled across the table, and her math book was open. Chuckie had just explained a concept to her that her math teacher apparently failed to convey, and now there was nothing left for him to do but watch her as she solved the remaining twenty problems on the page.

He really needed to get out of the habit of watching her. It did horrible things to him. He placed his elbows on the table, his face in his hands, and stared at the clock. His parents were in charge of the store tonight, so they wouldn't be home until late, and there was probably an overly extravagant meal in the fridge for him and Kimi.

"Done!" Angelica shouted as she slapped her hand down on the table. "Okay. Now that I actually get all this crap, these old assignments should be a piece of cake, right?"

"Probably."

"Check over this for me while I do these," she commanded as she slid the paper over to him. He sighed then glanced down at the page. His eyes scanned over Angelica's tidy numbers as he checked her work.

"Looks good," he told her as he reassumed his comfortable position. She grunted in response as she continued to work. Sitting this close to her Chuckie could see dark circles under her eyes and wondered what she was doing, or how late she was staying up, to get them. He also noticed that she didn't wear very much make up.

Not like the orange caked on faces he had seen on some other girls at school. He smirked slightly at the thought that she was naturally beautiful. He was then assaulted by two more thoughts. Why the hell was he thinking Angelica was beautiful, and how many other guys had gotten close enough to notice? The second thought made his stomach churn for some reason he couldn't understand.

"I'm not sure about—" she stopped mid-sentence as she turned to look at him. Their gazes locked for a moment and Chuckie found himself lost in her eyes. They were mesmerizing and, almost in a trance, he found himself leaning closer. Before he could stop himself his hand was reaching for her face, then suddenly his thumb was sliding across her soft skin.

"Angelica," he wasn't sure why he said her name, but as her eyes fluttered closed his heart suddenly swelled. "I—"

The front door slammed open and Chuckie jumped away from Angelica and shoved his hands down into his lap. He was still staring at her, only this time with wide frightened eyes. He was shocked that her expression mirrored his.

"CHUCKIE?" Kimi cried as she slammed the door shut and came stomping into the house. "WHOSE CAR IS OUT FRONT?"

"I'm right here Kimi," he said as she walked past the kitchen. She stopped suddenly and turned to look at him.

"Oh, there you are, I—" her mouth dropped open as she spotted Angelica. Her expression quickly became one of confusion. "Angelica?" She asked as she glanced from her to Chuckie and back. "What are _you_ doing here?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

Before Chuckie could find the words to say anything Angelica spoke up. "H—He's helping me with my math homework." Chuckie looked over at her and saw that her face was pale and she was taking quick shallow breaths.

"_Why?_" Kimi asked in absolute confusion.

"I—I've got to go," Angelica stuttered before Chuckie could answer. She stood up and quickly began gathering up her papers, then seconds later with her arms full she grabbed her purse and hurried out the door.

"Thanks for the help Chuckie." She called as she practically ran to her car. Chuckie stood up and closed the door behind Angelica.

"Why are you helping _Angelica_, of all people, with her homework? Isn't she a grade higher than you?"

"She helped me out with a project; I'm just returning the favor."

"But you guys aren't even friends."

"We don't have to be. Things are different in high school."

"Whatever," Kimi threw her backpack onto the table then hurried up the stairs to her room. Chuckie walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Angelica was still sitting in her car, and Chuckie felt his eyes widen as she buried her face in her hands. He watched her shoulders shake and was about to hurry outside to ask her what was wrong when she sat up, wiped her eyes and drove away. He sat down on the couch and stared at his hands, not sure that to think.

* * *

Angelica dumped her schoolwork on the passenger's side seat and climbed into her car. As soon as the doors were closed she released the flood of tears she had been holding back. She rested her head against her seat and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked the roof of her car. Angelica tried to take a few calming breaths, but it wasn't helping. _Why the hell did he do that?_ She wondered. _I've been dating for years, I've gone out with tons guys, but none of them have ever looked at me like that._ _Nobody's ever touched me like that. _She touched her cheek where Chuckie had gently caressed it, then buried her face in her hands while her whole body shook.

"Damn you Chuckie Finster!" She sat up, wiped her eyes, started her car and drove off. _We had a deal. This whole thing is just pretend. You're not supposed to look at me like that, or whisper my name and make goose bumps run up and down my arms, and you're definitely not supposed to make me feel so . . . loved._


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: First to all my readers THANK YOU for reading, to all my reviewers: DOUBLE THANK YOU for reading and reviewing. you guys make me laugh and gush and feel all amazing and I then pour these emotions into my story. Second, this is a long one, but I have You must be perfect." If Google translate has led me astray (I've been burned before) please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks.**

* * *

Friday I'm in Love

* * *

Chuckie had looked shocked when Angelica showed up at his door the next morning. He was dressed, had his hair done, and actually looked pretty damn good. She winced and chased the thought from her head.

"You ready?" She asked. The sun had just barely started to rise, but she was wearing sunglasses. She needed to mask the redness of her eyes rather than block out the sun, but she was hoping Chuckie wouldn't start asking questions. Angelica hadn't been able to do anything after she'd left his house.

She couldn't eat, finish her homework, walk in a straight line, or even sleep. It took almost all of her concentration to keep breathing. The one thing she could do, however, was think.

And she had been thinking for the last fifteen hours or so about anything and everything, but mostly Charles Crandall Finster. She had been thinking about how he had the horrible habit of opening doors and carrying her books. How willing he was to offer help on her homework, and how she had found herself trapped in his ridiculously green eyes yesterday.

She had spent most of the night trying to devise ways to keep her distance and still trick McNulty into thinking they were an item. Most of her ideas were completely bizarre or absolutely stupid, and before she knew it her alarm clock had gone off.

So after a completely useless and fitful night she stood on Chuckie's doorstep waiting to take him to school.

"Y—Yeah." He stammered. He spun around and slipped off for a few seconds then came back with his backpack and headed out the door. The drive to school was quiet and awkward. Neither of them was willing to address what had happened at his kitchen table, but Angelica was acutely aware of what would have happened if Kimi hadn't come barging into that room. There was no doubt in Angelica's mind; they would have kissed and things would have been . . . different.

It was all she could think about, that damned almost-kiss. For that one brief moment it wasn't pretend, he wanted to kiss her and they both knew it. Worse was how much Angelica wanted him to. She shivered involuntarily at the thought and refused to even attempt to understand it. She had done nothing but chase logic in circles around her mind all night, and she was out of brain power. Despite the ridiculous amounts of coffee running through her body she had a feeling she'd be sleeping through math _and_ study hall.

Angelica parked her car, turned it off, and reached into the back seat for her books. When she turned back around there he was, holding the door. She wanted to hit him, or at least growl at him. He had no right to cause her lose sleep, be unable to think straight, and make her act like an idiot. With a sigh of resignation she grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together, and walked into the school.

They were early enough that they had a few minutes to kill before the halls got really crowded, so Angelica pulled him to her locker forcing him to wait while she shoved her books inside. Just before slamming the door shut she realized she still had her sunglasses on. Vaguely wondering how stupid she must have looked she sighed and carelessly tossed them on top of her books.

Now free of her books she grabbed Chuckie's hand, intent on leading him back to Savannah's locker, but when she looked up at him he suddenly went rigid.

"Angelica," he took a step closer and leaned toward her, "what happened? Why are your eyes all red?" _Damn it!_ She thought angrily as she tried to think of a perfectly reasonable excuse for having bloodshot eyes. Chuckie was too smart to buy any of them.

"Um . . ." her exhausted brain failed to come up with anything.

"Angelica?" He was suddenly closer. Way too close for comfort, and there it was again, that look in his eyes that made Angelica want to wrap herself up in him. Any thoughts that were going through her head stopped. He put his hand gently on her arm and the truth came tumbling out.

"I couldn't sleep, that's all," she said as she stepped back slightly and rubbed the skin he had touched. She felt utterly vulnerable and absolutely hated it.

"Oh." He quickly shoved his hands in his pockets. "Why couldn't you sleep?" He asked.

"Stress," she answered as she re-positioned her bag.

"About your math test today?" She looked up at him and watched a smile light up his whole face. "Don't be. You understand all that stuff way more than you give yourself credit for. You'll do great."

She stared at him for a moment as she tried to let his words sink into her tired mind. _Right. Math test. That's today too._

"It's not math, it's this dance recital." She ran her hand down her face as the mere thought of today's rehearsal exhausted her.

"What dance recital?"

"Oh," she suddenly realized she hadn't told him about it, "I have a dance recital next Saturday. I have practice today, and another one tomorrow. So I can't give you a ride home."

"That's okay. Sorry you're feeling stressed out," he offered quietly with a shrug. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

She glared up at him feeling extremely tempted to tell him the other reason she hadn't slept last night. _There is plenty you could do Chuckie. Like stop being so damn nice and genuinely caring about me as a person, and just be my pretend boyfriend for another week._ She shook her head. Even in her exhausted state she realized how stupid it was that her biggest problem was someone _actually_ caring about her.

"Don't worry about it Finster. Let's go catch up with Savannah. No talking." She ordered as she took his hand.

* * *

Chuckie was tapping his pen and worrying about Angelica again. After a sharp reprimand from the kid sharing his table, he stopped tapping the pen, but the worrying wasn't so easily eradicated. He wondered how she was doing on her math test, considering how tired and stressed out she was. He worried where she was going to find the energy to make it through school, a dance practice, and a party. He thought back to how red and tired her eyes had looked this morning. Most of all though Chuckie thought about what had possessed him the day before.

_What is wrong with me? This is Angelica!_ He reminded himself for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. _What in the world made me think I could so much as _touch_ her? Why on Earth did she _let _me?_

His eyes went wide a sudden realization. She was lonely. He frowned and dismissed the idea. Angelica had her posse of friends and everyone in the school knew who she was, how could she possibly be lonely?

_You know that look Chuckie. You see it in the mirror every day._ He frowned more deeply, trying to ignore the part of his brain that seemed to want to argue over everything.

_So what if she's lonely?_ He snapped back. _It's none of my business. We have an agreement and that's that. One week from now she'll break up with me and I'll only ever have to see her at neighborhood parties. The End._

He rested his face in his hand and tried to focus on Mrs. Laurel's physics lesson, but within seconds the image of Angelica's eyelids fluttering closed as he whispered her name came rushing back to him.

_What would have happened if Kimi hadn't come home?_

_You would have kissed her._

The realization hit him like a fist to the face. He sat up straight in his seat as his eyes went wide.

"Do you need something—" the teacher looked down at her role "Chuckie?"

"Bathroom." He managed to squeak out. "I need to use the bathroom."

A handful of students began chuckling as their teacher simply pointed to the hall pass that was hanging on the wall by the door. Without another word he hurried to the front of the room, grabbed the large laminated paper, and rushed out the door.

Once outside he began walking quickly down the halls, he didn't care where he was going, he just needed to pace. He needed to clear his head.

_I wasn't going to kiss her. _He desperately told himself. _I don't even like her. Nope. Don't like her at all._ He stopped and stared down at his hands wondering if he had somehow lost control of them yesterday. That was the only thing that made sense.

"Going somewhere?" His head snapped up and he saw one of the secretaries from the front office frowning down at him.

He held up the hall pass. "Just heading back to Mr. Laurel's class . . . from the bathroom."

The older woman's frown deepened. "I believe her classroom is that way." She pointed toward the hall he had just come from.

"Oh, right. Thanks." He spun on his heel and hurried back to class fervently telling himself that he did _not_ like Angelica.

* * *

Angelica winced as Madame Dupont stormed up and down the line of dancers she was currently berating. She was angrily telling them that they were never going to amount to anything if they couldn't get this dance right. She spun and glared at the boys of the group shouting about how terrible their lifts were. Angelica took a second to glare over at her partner Christian.

It didn't matter how many times they did it he never managed to catch her quite right. He was the strongest guy in the class and she was the only girl being caught, but he just couldn't seem to get it right. She turned her attention to the run in her tights from her latest fall. She knew how to fall without getting hurt, but her clothes were always subject to casualties.

Her head snapped up when he suddenly interrupted Madame Dupont's tirade.

"Maybe we should take the leap out." Christian suggested quietly.

Madame Dupont froze and slowly turned to look at him. Her light brown hair was piled high on her head, and her eyes seemed to blaze with fury. She was a very small woman, but as she glared up at Christian she seemed ten feet tall and he visibly shrunk back.

"You mean to suggest that _I_ should rewrite this entire number a week before we preform because _you_ cannot catch one of the most talented and experienced dancers in the room?" She shrieked. Angelica smirked at the complement but froze when Madame redirected her fury.

"Wipe that smile off your face girl!" Angelica did as she was commanded. "Christian has been with me for three years. I have never seen two partners struggle the way you do. What are you doing wrong?" She snapped. "Do not mess up your timing!" She again turned to Christian. "Do not drop her!" She stepped back and glared at the rest of the class. "Again, from the beginning! Vous devez être parfait!" She clapped her hands and everyone scrambled to their places.

* * *

Chuckie stood nervously in front of the mirror in his room and made sure he looked okay. He was sure this was the shirt Angelica had told him to wear to the party. At least he hoped it was. He checked his watch.

"Nine fifty five." He mumbled to himself. Kimi was spending the night at Lil's and his parents were still closing up the shop so he wouldn't have to explain why he was going to a party with Angelica; as far as they knew he was just going to a small get together with some of the guys from his tech theater class. He frowned at the mirror when he realized he didn't even feel bad lying to his family.

_What is wrong with you?_ He demanded from his reflection. The doorbell rang before the confused looking boy could answer him, and he hurried downstairs. Taking a deep steadying breath, he opened the door.

It was a good thing he did the breathing before, because at the sight of Angelica his lungs decided to stop functioning. Her hair was curled and piled on top of her head with a few spirals left loose to frame her face. She was wearing at light halter tube top that didn't leave much to the imagination and a silver skirt that looked like it was more than a few sizes too small. He refused to let his eyes travel down her legs—_so much leg_—and instead kept his eyes fixed firmly on hers.

He knew his face was starting to redden, and the smirk that found its way to her lips told him she knew exactly what was going through his head.

"Damn Finster, you're looking hot tonight." She slapped him on the shoulder to emphasis.

"Um thanks." His ears were burning. "Y—you look nice?" It came out with a squeak and he quickly cleared his throat.

"Thanks. Shall we?" He followed her to her car, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk then climbed in. He flinched when she started it up and her music came blasting through to speakers. She didn't bother turning it down so he didn't bother with conversation.

"Almost there," she told him as they stopped at a red light. She glanced down at her nails, examining them for who knows what, and Chuckie made the mistake of looking at her. Even in the dimly lit car he could see how lean and toned her legs were, how smooth her skin was—

A sharp honk from the car behind them pulled both teens' attention to the now green light and Angelica pushed down the gas pedal. Chuckie forced himself to think of dead puppies and rolled down the window for some cold fresh air. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

"We're here." She announced as they parked in one of the few available spots left on the crowded street. Chuckie climbed out of Angelica's car, walked to the driver's side, and opened her door for her while she checked her lipstick in the rear view mirror. He waited until she was done, offered his hand, which she took with a smile, and helped her out of the car. She gave her miniskirt a quick tug toward her knees, not that it seemed to make much of a difference, and laced her fingers with his. He felt his heart speed up and glanced down at their joined hands. _I don't like her._

He could hear the music from down the street where she had parked, but when she opened the door he had to fight the instinct to cover his ears. They were "fashionably late" according to Angelica, who had to explain the concept to him when she had told him to be ready at ten, so there was already a crowd dancing in the living room.

Chuckie tilted his head to the side. _It's not so much dancing as . . . thrusting. _He thought as he averted his eyes. Angelica tugged him through the door and instantly spotted someone she just _had_ to socialize with. She shouted a few incoherent phrases at him then disappeared into the crowd. He found a corner and stuck himself in it. He watched as absolute chaos unfolded.

Angelica had told him that there would probably pot and beer at this party, and that it "wasn't a big deal" and he was to be cool and not say a word about it. He frowned as some shirtless guy went screaming past him. _It's for the laptop._ He told himself for the millionth time that week. He stood in the corner for ages doing his best not to get noticed.

* * *

_Where the hell did he go? I told him to stay put!_ Angelica shoved her way into the middle of the room and began looking around for him. _If I was Finster where would I be?_ She began searching for the least crowded places she could find; sure enough there he was tucked away in some corner. He looked miserable. She sighed and resolved herself to at least _try_ to get him to loosen up and have some fun. She rushed over to him and, with her most alluring smile, grabbed his hands.

"Come on Finster!" She shouted as she pulled him out into the middle of the crowded room. "Let's party!"

"You're not going to make me dance are you?"

She stopped and spun to glare at him. "Seriously?"

"I'll make an idiot out of myself."

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Fine! No dancing, but you're at least going to socialize." She grabbed the nearest member of the football team and introduced herself and her boyfriend, making sure to talk to all the right people as they worked their way across the room.

"I'm thirsty! How about you?" She asked when she spotted the kitchen.

He nodded. "It's way too hot in here!"

Angelica let go of his hand and nodded toward the kitchen just in time to see some bleached-blonde collapse into his arms.

Chuckie squawked as he tried to keep his balance and stand her up.

"Chad! Angelica!" She squealed.

"Tiffany?" Chuckie asked.

"When did you get here?" Angelica asked. Tiffany swayed for a second then leaned heavily on her and laughed.

"I've been here for, like, I dunno, but holy shit Ang, there's a keg in the kitchen!"

"What?"

"Like a serious beer filled keg! It tastes like shit, but once you get the first few glasses down it's not so bad."

"I know Tiffany," Angelica said as she watched her friend giggle involuntarily. "How much have you had to drink?"

"I don't know," she said slowly, her brows furrowed in concentration.

"Right. Have you seen Jim yet?"

"Who the hell is Jim?"

"Okay. I'm cutting you off."

"Nooo!" She whined, then turning to Chuckie she pouted. "Are you going to let her do that to me Chad?"

"Um . . . yeah. I think she's right." Angelica ducked out of Tiffany's grip and pushed her toward the couch. She grabbed Chuckie's hand and, with a nod toward a few boys she recognized as seniors, walked over to the keg that Tiffany couldn't stop talking about. She grabbed one of the red plastic cups stacked on the table, filled it almost to the top, and handed it to Chuckie. She turned around and filled one for herself.

"Cheers." She said as she bumped her cup against his and chugged it down as quickly as she could, hoping not to taste it. When she stopped to breathe her cup was mostly empty. She looked over at Chuckie who was still standing there with his cup completely full.

"Um, Angelica—"

"Just try it Finster! It'll loosen you up, and if anyone in this world needs loosening it's you."

"No."

"Are you seriously going to do this?" She asked flatly.

"Yes."

Angelica rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go sit with Tiffany and make sure she doesn't puke." She plucked the drink from his hand while he shook his head and stormed off. "Prude." She called as she polished off the rest of her drink and his.

She leaned against the counter and waited for the euphoria to set in. She'd learned at her first party that one drink made her a bitch, but two took down just enough barriers to make her a hell of a lot of fun. She smiled slightly as she felt the alcohol starting to affect her.

"Hey, Pickles right?" Her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring at Jim Morgan.

"Yeah." She answered stupidly.

"You ran for student council against Carmichael last year right."

"Yeah." She was really surprised that he actually knew all of this.

"You only lost by a few votes right?"

"Right," she answered in annoyance at the unpleasant memory.

"Hmm. Well, I'm kinda glad. If you had won you wouldn't be _here_. Besides you're way too hot to be wasting your time worrying about who's going to decorate for a dance no one wants to be at."

She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the compliment, but she felt her face heat up.

"Thanks, great party by the way."

"It turned out pretty good, so far at least. It was nice talking to you. I'll see you around."

"Angelica," she offered as he turned away from her.

"Angelica." He waved back at her as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Damn!" She whispered once she was alone again. "Tiffany is going to die when I tell the girls about this. Jim Morgan thinks I'm hot." She was just about to strut back into the living room, but the door was suddenly blocked.

"Angelica," Timmy McNulty spat as he stopped in the doorway.

"McNulty."

"How's that pretend boyfriend of yours."

She rolled her eyes. "You are _such_ a child."

"Oh please Angelica. Everyone knows you'd never waste your time with a tool like Finster. We all know you somehow roped the poor idiot into being your boyfriend for a week."

"I'll have you know that Chad and I are madly in love."

He snorted. "Madly in love?"

"He's got a hell of a lot more going for him than you do, that's for damn sure."

"And I'm supposed to believe that you think he's the hottest guy in school?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah."

"Prove it." He smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Watch me." She spat as she shoved past him and into the chaos.

* * *

Chuckie looked down at his watch then over at Tiffany, who was now slumped down on the corner of the couch. He was amazed that she could fall asleep—especially with all the noise—in only fifteen minutes. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. _How long is Angelica going to be?_ He wondered. _Maybe I shouldn't have left her alone._

"Chad!" He glanced over and saw Angelica quickly walking toward him. "There you are baby!" She yelled rather loudly, considering she was only a few feet away. "I missed you." She purred.

"Um . . ."

"Shut up." She whispered as she pushed his shoulders back against the couch. With her hands still on his shoulders she put one of her knees on the cushion between his legs and leaned forward. He forced his eyes to look up into hers instead of focusing on the much more appealing view her shirt was giving him.

As he looked at her she shot him a smile that was a mix between wild seductress and hungry lioness. It terrified him. Before he could voice his concern however, she closed the space between them and placed a surprisingly gentle kiss on his lips.

"Make this look convincing." She whispered against his ear. Without any further warning she pushed against his shoulders and crawled onto the couch. He couldn't keep his wide eyes from glancing her up and down. She giggled slightly while kneeling over him with her knees on either side of his legs. Her already short skirt stretched slightly and tightened against her skin until it started sliding up her thigh. It was too mesmerizing to look away from.

Suddenly her lips were against his again and she sat herself down on his lap. He grabbed the couch cushions to keep from accidentally touching her. Angelica leaned back and grabbed both of his hands in hers. The look on her face had softened considerably, and as she smiled the entire expression she gave him was enough to calm him down so he could at least unclench his jaw.

"Just enjoy the ride." She said pulling his arms behind her and placing them both on her bare back. He watched her tilt her head slightly to the side and smile, before running her finger down the side of his face. Chuckie wasn't sure what was going through her head, but something about her gentle touch and the look in her eyes gave him the courage to pull her closer.

_I don't even like her!_ He tried to remind himself as she placed her hand on his cheek and closed the gap between them. _Just enjoy the ride._ Her voice repeated in his head. He focused on the sensation of her teeth gently tugging at his lips, instead of the cheering and cat-calls that surrounded him. She placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, then his cheek, and finally stopped right next to his ear.

"Chuckie," the quiet whispering of his name sent chills down his spine, "I . . ." she suddenly pushed herself back, and in one fluid motion was on her feet. With a tug of her hand he was up and being pulled away from the couch just as quickly. With an exhausted sigh he followed her hoping they were heading for the exit. He was a little confused when she tugged him up the stairs.

"Angelica," he said slowly as he followed her up the large winding staircase, "where are we going?"

"Upstairs silly." She giggled then suddenly stopped walking causing him to almost run into her. "You know what they do upstairs at these kinda parties right?" She leaned forward and kissed his nose. His eyes went wide and all the blood drained out of his face.

"Of course I do." He answered, doing his best to appear calm.

"Then let's go." She turned around and continued leading him upstairs ignoring, or completely oblivious to, the cheers of the entire room. All of his blood quickly found its way back to his cheeks and ears. Once up the stairs she pulled him toward the first open door in sight and slipped inside.

"Lock that." She mumbled. He closed the door, locked it, and turned around just as Angelica collapsed against him.

"Angelica?" He asked as he helped her back up. She dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "Are you drunk?"

"No!" She gasped out between laughs.

"Are you high?"

"No." She snorted as she wandered toward the bed.

"I don't believe you. How much did you drink after I left?"

"Just yours." She said with a happy sigh as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Are you sure?" He asked as she flopped onto the large mattress.

"I'm a _little_ buzzed, I'm not stupid. I know my limits." She chuckled. "Did you see McNulty's face?" Chuckie didn't know why, but for some reason he suddenly felt like he had swallowed a rock.

He folded his arms and leaned against the door.

"I guess I missed it."

"It was awesome," she sighed, "he's probably off punching something as we speak."

"Probably." _I know I want to._ He shook his head. _This whole thing is, and always will be, about Timmy McNulty._ He reminded himself, but that didn't seem to convince whatever was pinching his heart. _She's using you to piss him off, in exchange for a laptop. Get over it._

"Yeah." She giggled and rolled onto the bed. With a soft sigh she rested her head on the pillow, and crossed her ankles.

"So how long are we supposed to stay in here exactly?"

"Huh?"

"Well . . . f—for appearances sake," he cleared his throat, "and all that."

Angelica shook her head and tugged at the hem of her skirt. "I have no idea. Believe it or not I'm still a virgin Finster."

He felt his face light up again as he attempted to spit out an appropriate response. "I—I n—n never . . . you—"

"Give it a rest already." She patted a spot on the bed beside her and Chuckie hesitantly inched closer. "So I've never put out." She shrugged. "I don't want people thinking I'm easy."

Chuckie bit down on his lip while deciding if he was brave enough to look at her again. "Sit." She commanded suddenly. Chuckie quickly complied.

"Then why me?" he asked hastily, still avoiding her gaze, "or Chad . . . or whoever?"

She shrugged. "I'll be eighteen next year, I figure it's time. Besides maybe if McNulty thinks I'm 'used goods' he'll get off my back."

Chuckie's eyes went wide. "Y—you shouldn't talk about yourself like that," he spat before he could think better of it.

"Oh please Finster. I've dated enough to know that's how guys think."

"Not all guys." He muttered as he folded his arms across his chest. Angelica suddenly rolled over to face him. She smiled and sat up.

"You know something Finster?" She asked as she tapped her finger on his nose. "You are going to make some lucky girl really happy someday." She flopped back down onto the pillow.

"Um . . . thanks." He said as he fought his blush back down.

"Mostly because I trust you." She said suddenly as she stretched. "I know you'd never . . . you know . . . do anything . . . _you_ _know_."

"Right." He whispered.

"So what now?" She said absently as they both looked around the room. The only things in it were the bed, a dresser, and a T.V. in the corner. They both saw the T.V. at the same.

"Let's see what's on." Angelica said as Chuckie stood up to turn it on. It was basic cable, and after manually flipping through all the channels Angelica decided on a re-run of some 90's sitcom he'd never heard of. He checked his watch and sighed. _This is by far the worst party I've ever been to._

He sat back down on the bed and rested his back against the headboard. For the most part he watched the T.V., but every once in a while he'd glance over at Angelica, usually when she started laughing way too loudly. He checked his watch again during the 'moral of the story' then glanced back at Angelica.

His breath caught in his throat. He had never seen her look so peaceful and happy. She was propped up against the headboard as well, with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. A few curly strands of hair had come loose from her hairstyle and were falling against her face. Without thinking he reached over and brushed a loose curl away from her forehead. She looked over at him and his heart stopped. She looked a little surprised, but calm, and happy all at once. Not the usual shrewd, stern, businesswoman look she usually wore.

She blinked rapidly and Chuckie's heart started up again. "Sorry." He said quickly as he pulled his hand back and clasped both of them together in his lap. His heart sped up as if it was trying to make up for lost time.

"No problem." She whispered, once again turning her attention to the T.V. He stared down at his hands and smiled at the residual sensation of her smooth skin against his fingertips. He thought about the look in her eyes when she had kissed him, and the way she had whispered his name, his actual name, not Finster or Chad, and how that felt. His eyes went wide as an awful realization struck him.

_I love her._ He shook his head. _I don't even like her, I can't love her. She's Angelica! I can't love her . . . but . . ._

"I do."

"Did you say something?" She asked.

"No," he insisted while trying to keep calm, "just thinking out loud." He finished lamely.

"Okay." She shrugged and resumed watching.

_I'm in love with Angelica._ He thought in complete disbelief. _What the hell am I supposed to do with that?_ Canned laughter and a cheesy closing song announced the end of the episode. It faded out as an announcer reminded them that another episode was up next.

"Maybe we should stay for one more," she said as she settled further into the pillow. Chuckie rolled his eyes but didn't protest. He focused solely on the show and didn't look at Angelica until it was over. When he did, he saw that her eyes were shut and her mouth was slightly open.

"Angelica?" He asked cautiously. She didn't move so he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. "Angelica?" Chuckie glanced at his watch again and saw that it was almost midnight. "Angelica, wake up. It's late." Chuckie shook her harder. She moaned and scrunched up her face. _She's cute even like that. _He blushed at the thought.

"Just five more minutes." She whined.

"Angelica, I need to get home. C'mon." He pulled on her arms until she was in a sitting position. She opened her eyes, stared at him for a few seconds, closed them again and leaned against his chest.

"Let's just stay here." She whispered.

"We can't." He started pushing her off of him when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Why not?" He stiffened and blushed harder as she suddenly slid her hands up his shirt. He grabbed her wrists to remove her hands, but she tightened her hug and lay back down, taking him with her. Chuckie let go of her and caught himself. His heart was pounding in his ears as he leaned over Angelica who was now tugging at his shirt.

"We need to go home." He told her breathlessly.

"Mmmm." She opened one eye as she ran her hand over his chest. "Have you been working out?"

"A–Angelica," he stuttered as he pulled her hands away from him, "it's time to go."

"I already told you, we can stay here."

"No we can't." He climbed over her and stumbled off the bed.

She sighed heavily. "Okay. We'll go home." He stood up and offered her his hand. He helped her off the bed and waited as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Let's go." She said finally as she unlocked the door. She stopped suddenly and grabbed his hand, then pulled him close to her side as they walked down the stairs. The party was still in full swing, but the crowd had gotten a bit smaller.

She pulled him out the door and onto the yard, only to get the heels of her shoes stuck in the lawn. After losing a shoe, and toppling face first into the grass, Chuckie scooped her into his arms and carried her to the car. She snuggled into him and slipped her hand up his shirt again.

"You _have_ been working out. That's sexy." His eyes went wide at her comment.

"A–Angelica quit that or, or I'm going to drop you."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're so cute when you're all flustered. You're blushing." She told him as she cupped his face in her hand. He was extremely grateful that they hadn't parked very far away. He set her down, opened the passenger side door, and helped her into the seat. She rested her head against the window and closed her eyes.

Chuckie got into the driver's seat and began digging through Angelica's purse for her keys.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked as she forced open one red eye.

"I'm looking for your keys." He told her.

"You don't have a driver's license. Have you even taken Driver's Ed?"

"Yes I took Driver's Ed, and no, I don't have a driver's license, but there is no way I'm letting _you_ drive."

She closed her eye and leaned the seat back. "Good call Finster; try to keep it under fifty." He rolled his eyes and, having found her keys, started the car.

He drove home in silence at a steady twenty three miles an hour. It took forever, but he wasn't taking any chances. As he parked in front of her house he began shaking her in an attempt to wake her up.

"Angelica, you're home." She sat up quickly and looked around the car with large startled eyes.

"Right." She said as she fumbled for the door handle. Chuckie grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car. She was leaning against it and rubbing her eyes when he reached her.

"I don't think I should be so tired." She ran her hands down her face and took off her shoes. "I'm never this bad after two drinks. Did you slip me a rufie?"

"What?! I—you—I'd—"

"It was a joke; it was probably that muscle relaxer I took after rehearsal. Walk me to the door?" He handed her the tiny silver purse as they walked side-by-side up the sidewalk.

"Good night Angelica." Chuckie said as he opened the front door for her. She stepped inside, tossed her things on the floor then turned around to face him.

"Thanks for taking me home. You're . . ." she paused, tilted her head to the side then slowly put both hands on his cheeks.

"W—what are you doing?" He asked while thinking he should probably be used to all the random touching by now. She didn't answer but instead leaned forward and kissed him. It was a short soft kiss that barely brushed against his lips, but that didn't stop his heart from racing.

"'Night Chuckie." She patted his cheek and closed the door. He ran his hands down his face and began his walk home.

* * *

Angelica sighed as the door closed, then pressed her back against it and slowly slid to the floor. She covered her eyes with her arm and moaned.

"This is out of control." She told herself. "It's only been a week and I'm running out of excuses for not keeping my hands off of him."

"And you think he's just the sexiest man alive?" She said deepening her voice to mimic Timmy's earlier comment.

"What if I do?" She whispered as she dropped her arm to her side and used the door handle to pull herself up. "Would that really be so bad?"

She locked the front door and turned off the lights as she trudged up the stairs to her room.

"Of course it would." She answered. "He's Chuckie Finster, the biggest cowardly dweeb to ever walk the Earth. And you're starting to fall for him." She let out a frustrated groan as she stepped into her room and closed the door behind her.

"What am I supposed to do?" She wondered aloud as she peeled off her ridiculously tight party clothes and slipped into her comfiest, baggiest pajamas. "I've got another week, and then we break up. That's what I do." She nodded to herself and flipped off the lights. "It will be fine." She told her pillow. "I won't even miss him."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I couldn't wait to post this any longer! Happy Friday, I hope you like it.**_  
_

* * *

_"Watch me!" She said as she stormed out of the kitchen. No stormed wasn't the right word, she strutted, she sauntered out of that room, she owned that room; then she saw her boyfriend on the couch. He was wearing the jeans that made her want to smack his tight little ass, and the shirts that made his green eyes shine vibrantly from behind his glasses. And he was hers._

_ She called out to him then shoved him against the couch._

_ "A—Angelica." He stuttered._

_ "Shut up." She told him as she kissed him. "Make this look good." She didn't know why it needed to look good. They were completely alone, alone in her house like they were every time he came over to help her study. His eyes went wide as she climbed onto his lap._

_ "Just enjoy the ride." She whispered against his ear._

_ He was stiff and tense with his hands frozen to his sides so she took his hands and placed them on her back. His skin against hers was fire and electricity across her entire body. She smiled then she looked at him, really looked at him, and saw him for the first time. His eyes were scared, no, not scared, nervous. He was nervous, but he loved her, she could see it. She knew it, she felt it—even as she traced the scattered line of freckles across his nose—she knew._

_ He pulled her closer and then they were kissing again, his hands sliding across her skin, sending electricity clear down to her toes, her hand holding his face, the other in his hair. She knew it, she felt it, she couldn't keep it a secret. She pulled away just enough to whisper into his ear._

_ "Chuckie . . . I . . . I love you." She leaned back to look at him, to watch the happiness travel from his eyes to his mouth, but all she saw was confusion._

_ "P—please get off of me." He said, suddenly polite and distant. She shook her head and stood up. It didn't make sense. He loved her, she could see it._

_ "Chuckie?"_

_ "It's Chad now, and I really don't feel that way about you."_

_ "But—"_

_ "Thanks for th . . ." she couldn't hear what he was saying, but she suddenly remembered everything. He wasn't her boyfriend; she was bribing him—paying him—to hang out with her, to hold her hand, to gaze lovingly at her. It was all a lie._

_ "I love you." She whispered again._

_ "I can't stand you," he said as he walked away from her._

Angelica sat up and rolled off the bed, trying to untangle herself from the blanket and get to the light as quickly as possible. She fell and as she picked herself up off of the floor she realized the pitiful frightened sobs she could hear were coming from her.

She finally reached the light switch and the room was instantly flooded with light. Angelica wiped at her eyes while taking deep calming breaths and leaned against the wall trying to remember why she was crying. What had upset her so much? The slight headache she had was making it difficult to remember.

She turned the light off and gave her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, then carefully traveled the dark halls until she found the kitchen. Once there she turned on the dim stove light and dug around the medicine drawer for the painkillers she needed more with each passing second. Once she had two pills in her palm she tossed them into her mouth and chased them down with one of the water bottles from the fridge.

She sighed and pressed the cold bottle against her forehead. She sniffled and wiped at her still teary eyes.

"Why was I crying?" She asked as she sat down at the table. "It must have been one hell of a nightmare." She sat in silence for a few minutes as her headache slowly faded and her thoughts drifted to Chuckie.

"Stupid geek." She whispered. "Just one more week, then . . ." she frowned. "One more week then McNulty gets even more annoying? One more week and I don't have a date to junior prom? One more week and I start falling for him? Really falling? Damn it." She rested her head on the cold wooden surface and closed her eyes.

* * *

Chuckie sighed as he wiped down the counter at the Java Lava. It was unusually dead for a Saturday and at the moment he and Kimi were the only ones in the store.

"Alright Big Brother, what's wrong?" Kimi closed her math book and looked up at him.

"Who says anything is wrong?"

"That's like the millionth time you've sighed in the last hour."

He sighed again and she shot him a knowing look. With a grumble he ran his hand down his face. "It's nothing okay?"

"Uh-uh! No way you're getting out of this. Start talking."

Chuckie took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. When he looked back up Kimi was on the other side of the counter staring intently at him.

"Okay." He took a deep breath and glanced around the store, double checking to be sure it was empty. "There's this girl."

"Oooh! This is gonna be good." Kimi sat down at the bar setting her elbows on the counter and placing her face in her hands.

He cleared his throat and tugged nervously at his shirt collar. "A—and I have this friend."

"Chuckie, we both know it's you so for the sake of clarity, let's not do the whole 'I have a friend' thing okay?"

"I can't talk to you about this Kimi." He threw his arms in the air and began turning away from her. She grabbed his apron forcing him to stop.

"Well then who are you going to talk to about it? Tommy? Phil? Mom and Dad?"

He shook his head and turned back around. "No, it's—everything is so stupid and messed up! How do I always get myself mixed up in this kind of stuff?"

"What kind of stuff?" her voice was suddenly laced with concern, "What happened? Are you in trouble?"

He turned back around and tried to offer his little sister a smile. "I'm not in danger, if that's what you mean."

She seemed to relax a little. "Then tell me about this girl."

"Okay." He placed his hands down on the counter and fixed Kimi with a steely glare. "So I'm at school last week and I'm minding my own business when this girl walks up to me and says 'Hey, pretend to be my boyfriend for a second' and kisses me."

"What?" Kimi shrieked as her eyes widened.

"It gets worse. She tells me that this really creepy guy is sort of stalking her and she needs a pretend boyfriend for a couple of weeks. Whatever, I'm not interested. Then . . . well she makes me an offer I can't refuse."

Kimi covered her mouth as a blush raced to her cheeks. "Chuckie you didn't?"

Suddenly realizing where her mind hand ventured he threw his hands in the air in a gesture of innocence. "No! Geez Kimi, get your mind out of the gutter! She offered me a brand new laptop. Which I thought would be nice to have for college, you know?"

"Geez is this girl a millionaire?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is I said yes."

"Chuckie." Kimi's scolding tone perfectly matched the one their mom used when she was disappointed in them.

"And she's always holding my hand and—and kissing me and I can't think and . . ."

"Oh Chuckie." This time her tone was filled with understanding and pity.

He folded his arms on the counter and dropped his head on them. "She's so worried and stressed out and tired and I . . ."

"And you're in love with her."

"Pathetic right?"

Kimi patted his head. "A little bit, yeah."

Chuckie groaned in frustration.

"Is that why changed your clothes and hair? Because you wanted to impress this girl?"

"Something like that. The real problem is that we're supposed to break up next week. What am I supposed to do Kimi?"

"Well you have to convince her not to."

He lifted his head up and glared at Kimi. "And how _exactly_ am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, prom is coming up, and she doesn't want to miss out on that right? That gives you another week and maybe in the meantime you can win her over."

"I don't think that's possible."

"Oh come on! Just open the door for her, or carry her books, or walk her to lunch."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I already do those things."

"Really? Wow. Hmm. I'm going to need to consult Lil on this one."

"NO!" Kimi jumped at his sudden increase in volume. "You can't tell anyone about this Kimi."

She puckered her lips into a pout and folded her arms across her chest. "Maybe you should ask someone else then."

"Let's just forget we ever had this conversation."

"Fine!" She stormed back over to the table she had been studying at and began gathering up her books. "I'm going home."

"Alright." He picked up his towel and resumed wiping down the counter. The only sound in the entire store was Kimi's angry shuffling of books and papers.

"Do something to show her that you care; just . . . be there for her." With that Kimi pushed open the door and left Chuckie alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Angelica dropped her head against her biology book and groaned.

"This stuff is so boring." _I should have just read through this Thursday night. Conflicted feelings or not this would have put me right to sleep._

"I know it's not fun Angel, but you've got to do well on this test." Her dad said as he patted her hand.

"There are a lot of other ballerinas out there Angelica, you've got to be better and _smarter_ if you want to get into a good college."

"I know Mom." She rolled her eyes at her mother, but she was too engrossed in whatever work she was doing to notice. "I need some serious caffeine if I'm going to cram this all into my brain before Monday. I'm going to the Java Lava." She pushed her chair away from the table and headed for the door before her parents could object. "Want anything?"

"I'm fine." Her dad called back.

"Don't be gone too long." Her mom answered.

Without another word she was in the car and on her way. She turned her music on and felt herself instantly relax. _Maybe studying at the table with my parents is not such a good idea. Could they be more annoying? You've got to do well on this test Angelica, you have to get into a good school Angelica, you have to be smart _and_ talented Angelica._

"Ugh!" She shouted in exasperation, just as she pulled up to the Java Lava. She got out of her car, smoothed down her clothes and walked in looking as put together as she could manage. She froze the moment she stepped across the threshold. The entire store was empty except for Chuckie who was staring down Timmy McNulty. Even more bizarre was the extreme calm of Chuckie's face.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He told Timmy.

"You don't deserve her." Angelica's eyes went wide as Timmy shoved Chuckie. She had obviously missed something. Chuckie staggered back, but never broke eye contact.

"I would really appreciate it if you would get out of my store."

"She's just using you Finster."

Chuckie only blinked in response.

"Fine!" Timmy shouted. "You wanna waste your time with a lying bitch like Angelica be my guest." Angelica watched Chuckie go completely rigid before reaching out and grabbing McNulty by the collar of his jacket.

"Hey! Hands off jackass!" Timmy shouted as he shoved Chuckie off of him.

"I'm sorry, but I thought I heard you call my girlfriend a lying bitch." She blushed slightly, but instead of wondering why she focused her thoughts on Chuckie's disturbingly calm demeanor.

"I did! Angelica is a lying bitch of a whore!" Angelica actually gasped as Chuckie grabbed Timmy by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Don't you ever," he shouted, "_ever _talk about her like that!" Timmy threw his fist into Chuckie's stomach causing him to release his grip on the older boy. The two began exchanging blows with unrestrained fury while she ran over and began shouting.

"Knock it off!" Neither of them seemed to hear, or care. "Back off McNulty or I'm calling the cops! I mean it!" She gasped again as Chuckie's glasses crunched under Timmy's fist. With a sudden burst of clarity Angelica dug through her purse and pulled the cap off of a tiny bottle.

"Chuckie move!" She shouted as she sprayed the contents in Timmy's face. He began shouting, then fell onto his knees and began rubbing his eyes.

"What is this shit!?" He screamed.

"Pepper spray!" Angelica shouted back. "You have three seconds until I call the cops, so I suggest you get your sorry ass out of here." He staggered to his feet and, still swearing, stumbled out the door. Angelica returned the bottle to her purse and turned to Chuckie. There was a cut across his nose and cheek from his glasses, and his left eye and lower lip were beginning to swell. He had managed to get back on his feet, but was leaning against the wall for support.

"Chuckie," she sighed, "what the hell were you thinking?"

"Angelica!" His eyes went wide. "When did you get here?"

She slapped her hand against her forehead. "I've been here the whole time genius."

"Oh . . . so you heard everything then?" He sounded scared, but somehow managed to blush.

"Yeah. I _saw_ everything too, though I'm still not sure if I believe that Chuckie Finster actually started a fight."

"Sorry." He said while rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know you were here or—" he paused and furrowed his eyebrows, "no, I still would have decked him. I just—" he stopped and leaned his head against the wall.

"You just what?"

His blush deepened. "Well, I was really mad that he called you a b–bitch," he winced as he said the word and Angelica fought back a chuckle, "but when he called you a . . . whore I . . ." He looked into her eyes for the first time since she had arrived, and Angelica's breath caught at the intensity of his gaze. "I just snapped. Sorry."

She stared into his eyes for several seconds while begging her heart to slow down. Her hand somehow found its way to his cheek and she stepped closer.

"Don't be." She whispered as she brought her face closer to his. _What am I doing!?_ Her brain screamed at her. She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes for a second and the thought of staying there all day drifted into her mind. She pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Thank you."

He nodded as she stepped away and began her search for his glasses.

"Chuckie!" Angelica spun around to find Tommy standing wide-eyed in the doorway. "What happened?"

"Unruly customer." Chuckie responded in a slightly huskier than normal voice. He cleared his throat and Angelica allowed herself a small smile. It was quickly replaced by a frown when she found his glasses, or what was left of them. She bent down to pick the two separate pieces.

"Who?" Tommy demanded.

"Timmy McNulty."

"What the hell did he _do_?"

"He was saying stuff about—" Angelica interrupted by handing him back his glasses, and giving him a few seconds to come up with a name, "about Kimi. Stupid stuff. I sort of over reacted, big brother instinct I guess."

"Oh. What are you doing here Angelica?" She shrugged.

"I came in for an iced mocha and got a show instead."

"Man, Chuckie, you look pretty bad. Is there a first-aid kit around here somewhere?"

"I—I think so." He tentatively touched his swelling eye.

"I'll go grab you some ice at least." Tommy said as he turned and headed for the back.

"Maybe I should just take him home." Angelica said casually. Tommy stopped in his tracks and spun around to stare at her. "What?" She snapped. "I can be nice sometimes."

He shook his head and kept walking.

"Anyway, his glasses are broken, so he's not going to be much help around here."

Tommy nodded. "You're probably right Angelica. I'll call the Deville's, and have one of them take over. I imagine your parents are going to be a little preoccupied with you."

"Are you going to be able to hold down the fort?" Angelica asked as she glanced back over to Chuckie.

"Yeah, I'll just flip the sign over. Here Chuckie." He handed the battered redhead the small bag of ice.

"Thanks. I doubt you'll get any customers before they get here. It's been dead all day." He whimpered as he pressed the ice against his eye.

"C'mon let's get you home." Angelica nodded to Tommy, grabbed Chuckie's arm and helped him to her car. She walked slowly making sure he didn't trip on something, and opened his door for him. He flopped down into the seat and she hurried around to the other side. When she sat down he started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that I usually get the door for you."

"It's not _that _funny. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, except my eye. It really hurts."

"I'm sure it does." She glanced over at him and, before she could change her mind, grabbed his hand. Her heart started pounding like she had just worked up the nerve to kiss a boy for the first time. She knew what it meant, she knew what she felt, but she quickly reminded herself that she and Chuckie had a business agreement. He was playing a part. She glanced over at his scratched face and frowned. _He's playing it a little too convincingly for my tastes. _She was worried about him, more than a _pretend_ girlfriend should be, and stopped examining her feelings. None of this however made her let go of his hand.

* * *

The minute his front door opened his family was an extremely loud flurry of questions. Fortunately Angelica answered most of them while his mom forced him onto a chair and began cleaning the cut on his face.

"We've never had a customer get violent before." His dad sounded like he was about to pass out.

"It doesn't matter what anyone said Chuckie, violence in never the answer." His mom chided.

"I can't believe Chuckie actually hit someone." Kimi squealed. "What was it like?"

"I'm just glad you and Tommy showed up when you did." His dad told Angelica. "There's no telling what should have happened if the two of you hadn't been there."

"Did McNulty cry after Angelica maced in in the face?"

"Kimi." Both of his parents scolded in the exact same tone of voice.

"Thanks again Angelica," his dad said. "You Pickles' always seem to have the best timing."

"Um, thanks." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I should go, I still have homework."

"Thanks Angelia," Chuckie called.

"No problem Finster, though I never did get that iced mocha."

The door shut and there was a sudden tense quiet in the Finster house.

"Kimi," Kira said with quiet neutrality, "please go to your room."

"Chuckie gets in a fight and _I_ get sent to my room?"

"Kimi," Chaz warned.

She grunted in disgust and stomped up the stairs.

"Ow." Chuckie winced his mom dabbed at his cut.

"I don't know what to say son."

"I know Dad. It was stupid."

"More than that, it was dangerous." He didn't miss the hint of fear in his dad's voice.

"I know that too."

"And I'm not sure how we should punish you."

Chuckie glanced down at the broken frames in his lap.

"This is so unlike you Chuckie," Kira said as she held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "What has gotten into you?"

"I don't know," He lied. "The things he was saying. I told him to leave twice, but he just stood there saying—" he pulled away from his mom. "It was stupid. I'm sorry. Can I just go wait in my room while you decide how much of my life I'll be spending there?"

"Go ahead." With his Dad's permission he trudged up the stairs, ice pack still on his face, and stepped into his room. Kimi was sitting at the foot of his bed.

"He wasn't talking about me was he?"

"What?" He asked as he flopped down on and stared up at the blurry ceiling.

"Timmy McNulty doesn't even know who I am. He's the stalker guy right? And he was talking about that girl you like."

Chuckie froze and regarded his sister with wide eyes. _I should have never told her._

She laughed. "And you beat the crap out of him. Remind me never to piss you off!"

"Kimi!"

"Too bad she'll never know."

"What?"

"The girl. The one whose honor you so gallantly defended." She stood up and patted him on the head. "Sorry you're going to get grounded for nothing."

"Yeah," he smiled, "too bad."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Sorry for cutting this update so close to the deadline, but I've had a LOT of deadlines this week. Don't worry I didn't forget about you lovely people. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Monday

Angelica took a deep breath as she walked up to the Finster house. She was trying to puzzle out what would be going through Chuckie's head. He was probably grounded for life. He would probably never want to talk to her again; after all it was her fault that he got involved with McNulty. That seemed to be the most likely scenario. Releasing her breath she knocked and waited.

To her surprise the door flung open to reveal a happy, albeit bruised, Chuckie.

"Hey Angelica," he grabbed his bag and closed the door behind him. "Let's go."

She stared after him for a moment then shook her head and followed him to her car. He was holding her door open for her and smiling like nothing had happened. It was a little weird.

She sat down and glanced across the car while Chuckie climbed in.

"So how was the rest of your weekend?" She asked as she started the car.

"Not bad," he smiled. "Mr. and Mrs. Deville told Tommy to close up the store and came over to check on me. Betty was actually _proud _of me! She convinced my parents that having to pay for new frames was punishment enough."

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah!" He was grinning ear to ear. "Fortunately the place I go is open Sundays _and_ had my frames in stock. It's the lenses that take weeks to get replaced. I was in and out in about 30 minutes. Down a hundred dollars, but I got to punch Timmy McNulty, so I'd say it was a net gain."

"That shiner is going to get you some serious street cred too." She couldn't help but laugh, and Chuckie joined in almost immediately.

They continued joking the entire way to school. They had laughed so much that by the time they parked Angelica had a stitch in her side that twinged when she reached around back for her purse. When she turned around Chuckie was standing at her side with her door open and his hand held out for her. She couldn't help but smile as she took it, and as soon she was on her feet he laced their fingers together.

Chuckie started laughing again.

"What?"

"I was just thinking how weird this last week has been. Who would have ever thought that _I_ would start a fight and _the two of us_ would be laughing and hanging out together?"

Angelica frowned as the words sunk into her brain. She and Chuckie were walking hand and hand to school. They were laughing and talking like friends. She felt her stomach start to churn.

_This isn't supposed to happen! This isn't real, we're just pretending._

"Well Finster you have become much more tolerable in the last few years, so I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising. And I guess I owe you one for decking McNulty on my behalf."

"Yeah." The laughter was gone from his voice and Angelica began walking faster, wanting to meet up with her friends, _needing_ an excuse to let go of his hand.

* * *

_Finster._ Chuckie didn't have a problem with his last name, but somehow when it came out of Angelica's mouth it sounded like a swear word and felt like a stab to the heart. His free hand went up to his eye, which was no longer swollen, but still hurt like hell. _What did I expect? I beat up the bad guy—though I'm pretty sure I came out more beat up than he did—and she falls into my arms? This isn't a chick flick._

As soon as they reached Angelica's locker she pulled her hand away from his and didn't bother taking it back. He couldn't help but watch her and wonder what he had done wrong. One minute they had been laughing and the next she was cold and distant again. _Just because you love her doesn't mean she loves you back._ He reminded himself as she hugged all of her friends. _She wants McNulty off her back and you are getting a laptop in exchange._

The bell rang, startling him out of his melancholy and Angelica's friends started going their separate ways.

"See you at lunch," she said in his direction, not even bothering to look him in the eye before hurrying off down the hall.

"Yeah," he said, though she was out of hearing range, "lunch." He turned around and began walking toward his class on autopilot, staring at the floor as he went. Someone rammed into his shoulder far too hard to be accidental and he looked up.

Timmy McNulty was walking away while glaring back at him. His bottom lip was split open and he had an ugly bruise on his cheek. _I did that?_ Chuckie thought in disbelief as the older boy turned back around. He started down at his hands and smiled.

* * *

Friday

Angelica looked up at the clock as she waited for her math teacher to finish his lecture. She felt like the longest week of her life was finally at an end. Her interactions with Chuckie had been even more awkward since Monday and she was glad they could finally stop their ridiculous game of make-believe. She still had her recital to worry about, but after lunch today, Finster would be out of the picture and her life would go back to normal.

"We have five minutes left of class so I'm going to call you up and hand back your tests, when you get yours feel free to leave, or you can stick around if you have any questions."

Angelica frowned as Mr. Evans began calling students up. With a depressed sigh she began gathering up her stuff and preparing herself for the worst. Mr. Evans had let her turn in her late assignments for full credit, so her grade was going to get a little boost, but she was sure this test would take her back down to failing. There was no way she had passed with how tired and stressed out she had been the previous Friday. _Stupid Finster! This whole thing is his—_

"Angelica." She grabbed her backpack and trudged to his desk. He handed her back the test and smiled. "I'm really impressed with this sudden improvement. Have you been working with a tutor?"

She glanced down at the paper and couldn't help but smile at the B- written on the top. Her eyes snapped back up to Mr. Evans.

"My boyfriend actually, he's a math genius!" She couldn't stop smiling.

"Well, keep up the good work."

She hurried out the door and stood in the spot where Chuckie usually waited for her. She couldn't wait to show him how well she'd done. After what seemed like an eternity the bell rang and people began pouring out of their classrooms. Angelica stood on her toes to try to get a glimpse of Chuckie. She spotted him at the very end of that hall walking toward her. Without caring who saw her or what they thought, she bolted through the crowds of people.

"Chuckie," she called as she ran up to him. "I did it!"

He stared at her with wide eyes so she shoved the paper in front of him.

"I passed my math test!"

He took the paper out of her hands and looked it over. His smile was almost as big as hers. "You did more than pass Angelica! You did great!"

"I know!" She wrapped her arms around him then just as quickly pulled herself off. She took a step back then smacked him on the shoulder. "It's all thanks to you, you big goofy math genius." She watched his cheeks go red and they held each other's gaze for a few seconds too long. She could feel her heart start to speed up and snatched her test out of his hand. "I'm starving. Let's go get lunch!"

She busied herself with putting her test into her backpack so her hands would be busy as they walked. _My boyfriend. Not tutor, not friend, not lackey. Boyfriend. I didn't even hesitate._ She bit down on her lip. _It's Friday._ She reminded herself. _After school this whole thing will be over._

Angelica ignored the odd tightness in her chest and followed Chuckie to the salad line.

"You're waiting with me?" He asked as if she had grown a second head.

"It's better than waiting alone at the table."

"Oh." Angelica watched his gaze flicker over to the much shorter "hot meals" line where the lunch ladies were serving spaghetti and meatballs. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Just go."

"Really?"

"Yeah." _We're over anyway._

Chuckie didn't need to be told twice and hurried off. Angelica pulled out her cellphone and began checking her messages while she waited. There were three from Brittany telling her how bored she was in her English class and one from Denise informing her about the latest fashion faux pas she had seen. Once at the front of the line she grabbed a tray, put her cellphone on it , and grabbed her food. She got another text message as she was walking back to her table.

She frowned when she saw it was from her mom; she knew it was bad news before she even looked at it.

**All flights canceled. Won't be home for your recital. Break a leg.**

She read and re-read the words on the screen, as if re-reading them would make them say something different.

"What's wrong Angelica?"

She slipped her phone back into her pocket. "My mom's flight got cancelled," she informed him as she opened her packet of ranch dressing. "Of course she's halfway across the world, so she won't be home in time for my recital."

"Oh. I'm sorry. At least your dad will be there though, right?"

"No." She kept her voice neutral, emotions locked down. She wasn't going to get upset about this. "He's at a conference in Ohio. He doesn't get home till Sunday."

"So, no one is going to be there to watch you?"

"Nope." She stabbed her lettuce with a little too much force and sighed. "Don't worry Finster, this isn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last."

* * *

Angelica had been silent through lunch, her "friends" hadn't seemed to notice, but Chuckie knew she was way more upset about her parents missing her recital than she was letting on. He mentally kicked himself as she told him goodbye when lunch was over. Tommy always knew exactly what to say and do in these sorts of situations, but Chuckie was useless.

He felt the knot of dread growing in his stomach the entire day in anticipation of the inevitable break up. He waited for Angelica by her locker after school and watched as she walked toward him. He frowned. She looked devastated; he kicked himself again and began frantically searching his brain asking 'what would Tommy say?' as is it would somehow provide the answer to Angelica's dismay.

"Let's go," she said with a nod in the direction of the doors, not even bothering to take his hand. He felt his throat tighten and followed her. This was the beginning of the end.

They drove in complete silence the entire way to Chuckie's house and it wasn't until Angelica's car pulled into his driveway that she looked at him. He immediately looked away. He didn't want to see her face when she broke up with him.

"I guess this is it Finster."

He nodded.

"Thanks for all your help. You really went above and beyond. McNulty is out of my hair for good thanks to you."

His hand absently touched the faded bruise on his eye.

"So . . . I . . . just let me know when you decide what it is you want from me."

"Thanks for the ride." He said quickly, wrapping his hand around his backpack and hurrying out of the car.

"Chuckie?" He turned around and looked down at Angelica. She was staring up at him with an odd expression; she looked hurt.

"Angelica?"

She blinked twice and it was gone. "Two thousand is my limit." He nodded, feeling like he had been punched in the stomach and walked as fast as he could to his front door. He stepped inside, tossed his backpack on the ground, and ran up the stairs slamming his door behind him. Chuckie sat down on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands.

His door immediately opened and he looked up in panic. Kimi was standing in his doorway with a red nose and a blanket draped around her shoulders.

"Chuckie?"

"S—sorry Kimi, I didn't know you were home."

"I'm not feeling so hot," she informed him with a sniffle.

"Sorry," he said again before resuming his position. "Do you mind?"

"She dumped you didn't she."

Chuckie only sighed in response.

"Don't worry big brother, you can win her back."

"You don't get it Kimi. She doesn't _need _me for anything. There is nothing I can do for her that she can't handle herself."

"I don't believe that. Everyone needs somebody. I mean even I need a shoulder to cry on now and then, and it's not like you, Mom, and Dad are always around."

Chuckie sat up straight and looked up at Kimi. "You're right! She has a recital tomorrow!" He could feel the excitement building within him. "Her parents are both out of town and won't be back in time. So I should go right?"

Kimi's cheeks were red, and not from her cold. "And bring roses." She cooed.

"What if she's mad that I'm there?"

"She won't be."


End file.
